Astronaut Victor Glover echoes Christ’s call to love God and neighbor during NASA’s historic Artemis II lunar flyby.
Newsroom (07/04/2026 Gaudium Press )In a moment that bridged the heavens and Earth, astronaut Victor Glover’s voice carried a timeless message across nearly a quarter million miles of space. As NASA’s Artemis II mission reached its closest point to the moon on April 6, 2026 — the agency’s first crewed lunar flyby in more than fifty years — Glover reminded listeners on Earth of Jesus Christ’s commandment to love both God and neighbor.
“As we get close to the nearest point to the moon and farthest point from Earth, as we continue to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos, I would like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries there on Earth, and that’s love,” said Glover, pilot of Integrity, NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
He continued, paraphrasing Scripture: “Christ said, in response to what was the greatest command, that it was to love God with all you are. And he also, being a great teacher, said the second is equal to it. And that is to love your neighbor as yourself.”
Faith From the Far Side
Only minutes before the crew lost communication while passing behind the moon, Glover’s words resonated as the spacecraft entered its 40-minute “loss of signal” phase. The temporary silence served as a poignant metaphor for humanity’s own search for connection across distances — physical, spiritual, and emotional.
A professed Christian and U.S. Navy aviator, Glover has long spoken openly about his faith, previously citing Psalm 30 during his 2021 mission aboard the International Space Station. Now, orbiting nearly 252,760 miles from Earth — farther than any human since Apollo 13 in 1970 — his message of love and unity reverberated from the depths of space.
A Mission for Humanity
Launched April 1 from Kennedy Space Center, Artemis II is a ten-day journey designed to prepare human explorers for future deep-space travel and lay the groundwork for a sustained lunar presence. The crew includes Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialists Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — the first from his nation to participate in a lunar mission.
Amid global anxieties — wars raging from Ukraine to the Middle East — Glover’s reflections served not only as a devotional meditation but also as a reminder of shared human dignity. Speaking earlier to CBS News on April 5, he drew parallels between the spacecraft and the planet itself.
“When I read the Bible and I look at all the amazing things that were done for us who were created — you have this amazing place, this spaceship,” he said. “You’re talking to us because we’re in a spaceship really far from Earth, but you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe.”
His voice softened as he added, “Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special, but I’m trying to tell you — you are special.”
Before the anticipated radio blackout, Glover sent one final message to those listening on Earth: “As we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still able to feel your true love from Earth. And to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you from the moon.”
Ground control replied simply: “Houston copies. We’ll see you on the other side.”
The Lunar Legacy and the “Bishop of the Moon”
The Artemis II mission also rekindles a curious piece of Florida history, one that intertwines faith, humor, and exploration. In June 1968, just six months before Apollo 8 became the first crewed spacecraft to orbit the moon, the Diocese of Orlando was founded — encompassing Brevard County, home to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center.
Following the moon landing the next year, Bishop William Borders joked to Pope Paul VI that he had become the “bishop of the moon.” As diocesan archives recount, Borders cited a provision of the 1917 Code of Canon Law declaring that newly discovered territories fall under the jurisdiction of the diocese from which the expedition originates.
While the claim was tongue-in-cheek, other clerics, including New York Archbishop Terence Cooke, humorously asserted their own rights to lunar jurisdiction through the Military Ordinariate. Ultimately, Canon Law grants such decisions exclusively to the Pope — though, as Father John C. Giel, chancellor for Canonical Affairs in Orlando, wryly observed, “jurisdiction means nothing if there is no one to have jurisdiction over.”
“Since we have yet to find any life on the moon,” Father Giel noted, “the story only emphasizes Bishop Borders’ good and humorous nature that allowed him to be such a good first bishop for central Florida.”
A Message That Transcends Distance
From Bishop Borders’ playful claim to Glover’s heartfelt broadcast, a quiet thread runs through the story of humankind’s quest beyond Earth — one that connects faith with frontier, humility with discovery.
Surrounded by the vast emptiness he described as “a whole bunch of nothing,” Glover saw Earth not as a small, fragile sphere, but as “an oasis” — a living, breathing sanctuary where love itself becomes the greatest mystery worth exploring.
As the Artemis II crew sails homeward toward splashdown near San Diego, their journey stands as both a triumph of engineering and a reminder of perspective. In the infinite expanse of space, it turns out, the most powerful command may still be one spoken two millennia ago: to love.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from OSV and CNA
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