Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: July 14, 2019
First of all, here’s a last reminder about our “Luau,” the Parish Hawaiian Pot Luck Supper on Monday, July 15, at 6 pm! Wear your Hawaiian shirt or “beach memories” surfer shorts, and bring a snack, salad, side or sweet to share (the Parish is providing the shredded pork!). We’re going to do our best to have special treats and activities for children and grandchildren, so bring them along too!)
As I write this, the workers from Roof-Tech, Inc., are on the roof of the rectory and Parish Office buildings, replacing the original shingled and flat-roofs up there that date back to 1966. Of course, they’re “racing against the rain” that can fall at any time! But by the time you read this – if fair weather blesses us – we won’t need to put out buckets inside any longer!
This coming week we’re all going to celebrate a significant moment in history: the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, the first manned moon landing. It will be all over the media all week, I’m sure, and there are a number of good documentaries to chronicle the American space program’s crowning achievement. I hope you can spend some time reflecting on just how remarkable an event it was.
Can I share two special perspectives? One is personal, and I just want to share it. But the other actually connects the first moon landing with our Cathedral Parish!
The moon landing is an especially vivid memory for me. I wrote about this in this column back in 2012: my whole family – all 12 of us! – was driving back from vacation, with only radio, books, and each other for company. Thank goodness New Orleans’ WWL put out a strong “clear channel” signal back in those days, and their CBS radio coverage did a great job in describing things as we drove back from Memphis. As I shared seven years ago, “It was only quiet in the car when Daddy made us listen to the moon landing on the radio. Those of us old enough to be interested had to use our imaginations, of course … [But] we were experiencing history: it was an achievement almost beyond belief. I still feel privileged to have shared in it so intensely. (And yes, we got home in time to watch Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon, on television, that night!)”
But another interesting fact connects the moon to the Church, and our Cathedral. Do you know who the first bishop of the moon was? No, that’s not a trick question! The Church has long recognized that the bishop of the place from which explorers set out to have a responsibility for the lands they first set foot on. (That’s how French and Spanish bishops first became responsible for Louisiana, and our Parish, back before we joined the USA.)
Well, Apollo 11 took off from Cape Canaveral, which was part of the Diocese of Orlando in those days. Bishop William Donald Borders was its chief shepherd, the same Msgr. Borders who had been pastor here at St. Joseph Cathedral Parish from 1964 until his ordination as bishop in 1968! He even made that point once when visiting Pope St. Paul VI. During their meeting, he rather nonchalantly observed, “You know, Holy Father, I am the bishop of the moon.” And then quickly went on to explain to a very-perplexed Pope how the launch from his diocese gave him religious responsibility over the “newly discovered” lunar territory! Since the Pope didn’t contradict him, it must be true, right?
With that smiling thought, I hope you are continuing to enjoy your summertime. Some memories are famous, some are quirky, but all help inspire us to live the life God gave us to the fullest!
Yours in the Lord,
Very Rev Paul D. Counce
