Last December, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture presented by famed astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson. For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Dr. Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, the host of the National Geographic show StarTalk and the author of such books as Astrophysics For People In A Hurry. He is also, for all intents and purposes, an avowed agnostic.
That being said, I suppose it may seem strange that someone who has not yet received the gift of faith himself has done so much to deepen my own, but I wouldn’t be much of a Catholic if I removed the “universe” from the equation. Dr. Tyson is the kind of man who takes what I call a “God’s eye” view of the universe. He has looked into the vastness of space and has a unique perspective on the world and our place in it. We are such a small part of an infinitely bigger process and yet the same event that conjured the rings of Saturn is the same thing that created us. Sure, our moms and dads had something to do with it, but when it comes down to it, we are one with the stars, moon, sun, the rocks, the trees, every blade of grass and every grain of sand that lies on every beach throughout the world.
It’s a big idea to try and wrap your brain around and while I don’t pretend to understand everything Dr. Tyson covers in his lectures, that one stuck with me for some reason. It’s the kind of concept that does not challenge one’s faith, but does not require one to have faith either. It is awe inspiring and humbling all at the same time and in today’s Gospel, Jesus does something very similar when he tells His followers how everything is known and accounted for by the One who made it.
Really stop and ponder that for a second: the same thing keeping track of all of the birds in the sky, all of the creatures in the sea and every living thing on land also concerns themselves with every hair on top of our heads. I don’t know about you, but I can barely keep track of my grocery list without having to write it down. And while I have split plenty of hairs in my lifetime, I’ve never taken the time to try and count them. I’m glad someone else has though.
Jesus also implores His disciples to not fear those who seek truth, even if those truths seem counterintuitive to what we believe as people of faith. If you know anything about the Church, then you know it does not shun scientific discovery, but rather, is keenly interested in unraveling the mysteries of the universe in order to determine how those findings shape the teaching authority of the Church. Jesus understands the importance of this as well and implores us to be part of the process. He wants us to ask the hard questions, to share these big ideas and to shout the truth from the rooftops whether it pertains to Him as the Son of God, taking a stand for our faith, or kicking Pluto out of the planetary corps.
While science and religion will always have their differences, both take a God’s eye view of the world and for all intents and purposes, come to the same conclusion: Humanity is part of something so much bigger than themselves and no matter how hard we seek the truth; we will always have more questions than we have answers. We have been given the gift of this planet and one lifetime to make the most of it. We have a responsibility to our earthly home and at no time can we take it or each other for granted out of arrogance or a perceived “privileged position” in the grand scheme of things.
Time, tenacity and conviction has revealed a great many things, and no doubt more will be discovered in years to come. But no matter how far into the universe we reach and no matter how big our ideas get, we still exist on this pale blue dot – the planet ideally situated to sustain us, a gift from something far beyond our comprehension and the only home we know. May we take a God’s eye view of it every once in a while and care about everything on it the way we hope He cares for us.
Today’s Readings for Mass: IS 6:1-8; PS 93:1AB, 1CD-2, 5; MT 10:24-33
