Now that the Christmas season is done, I can return to reflecting on astronomy! As I shared with you in the past, I plan on doing a couple more pieces on the forthcoming Artemis Missions. I also thought it would be fun to reflect on space missions slated for 2021. For understandable reasons, Covid-19 has often forced us to reflect on hard things that can lead to an emotional weightiness. Let’s take a little time to focus on the positives. Literally, let’s allow our minds to drift into space today! While poking around on EarthSky, I found a piece titled, “6 space missions to look forward to in 2021.” Below are the missions. I want to get your feedback on which missions interest you the most and, of those missions, which ones would you like me to write about. With that, let’s dream!  Mars Missions Though these probes are already on the way to Mars, a host of technologies will … Continue reading →

Christmas offers wonderful opportunities to reflect on faith and astronomy. Therefore, I’m going to delay my next reflect on the Artemus Moon missions until after the New Year. For now, I will venture into a classic minefield that tonight’s conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn actually begs us to ask. The minefield I speak of is the question, When was Jesus born? As I shared with you last week, tonight will be the highpoint of the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. Sadly, the weather forecast for Wisconsin looks “so-so” for good viewing of the conjunction. Still, the event has awoken some logical questions – Was this conjunction the Star of Bethlehem? Was Jesus born on December 25th? How do we know for sure any of this is true? These are all good questions! However, these question also present a plethora of not-so-good rabbit holes we can fall into if we are not careful. In my youth, the certainty of answering questions … Continue reading →

Last week, I offered a simple question for you to reflect upon – Should we return to the Moon? The responses I received, both public and private, revealed three, clear conclusions. There is definitely a body of people who think we should send people back to the Moon. There is definitely a body of people who think we should send rovers to the Moon since they are more budget friendly and could maximize the science due to the budget savings. The third conclusion I wasn’t looking for, but become very clear was this – Everyone felt we should go back to the Moon. Now, something we need to keep in mind is the Artemis Missions are meant to prepare to send humans to Mars. With that in mind, it’s not a simple debate of “send people or don’t send people to the Moon.” If the goal is to put women and men on the Moon to prep for Mars, then … Continue reading →

Once again, my apologies for my absence. Any of you who have gone through a job addition know that one of the first challenges is establishing a new workflow. So, is my new workflow… flowing? Let’s just say we’re in the river and we found the current. Now we just need to figure out how to keep with the current! In some ways, I think it’s a Godsend my concluding reflection for Fratelli Tutti was delayed. The reason for this thought is that we are a week away from starting a new Church year. When we think of a new year, we often think of a change of heart, a new way of seeing the world, and finding hope to be better people. From this standpoint, can we see Fratelli Tutti as part of this time of new beginnings? Let’s find out! In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis sets the parable of the Good Samaritan as the central Biblical image of … Continue reading →

Unlike last week, part of my reflection on Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, will invite a dialogue on faith and science! However, to set up that dialogue, we need to explore some foundational principles gleaned from the Pope’s writing. At the heart of Pope Francis’ new encyclical is a commentary that could be summarized as “towards a new politics.” One of the greatest obstacles identified by Pope Francis to this new vision of politics is the slippery term, “populist.” Therefore, we will explore what the Pope is addressing when he speaks of populism and then I will invite you to offer your response on this subject as it pertains to faith and science. The Non-Populist Pope What does it mean to be a “populist?” In my home county of the United States, I think the term “populist” is seen as a bit benign. For example, our culture has an entire genre of music called “Pop” that lives and dies … Continue reading →

As we continue to reflect on the hidden gems of Laudato Si’, we begin this week by exploring Pope Francis’ overarching view of the heart of Scripture’s story of salvation. It may seem incredibly simplistic, but the heart of Scripture is essentially a love story: God creates in love, we reject God’s love, and God seeks to restore that love. The creation accounts in the book of Genesis contain, in their own symbolic and narrative language, profound teachings about human existence and its historical reality. They suggest that human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbour and with the earth itself. According to the Bible, these three vital relationships have been broken, both outwardly and within us. This rupture is sin. The harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations. (Laudato Si’ … Continue reading →