This new, bi-monthly series will feature reflections from Fr. Michael Suchnicki dealing with God, thoughts from the friary backyard and on our Milky Way Galaxy.

I live at St. Francis Friary in Denver.

It was 4:30 am in early June, 2020. I went to the back yard of our friary for my brief early morning walk before going to the chapel for morning prayer and Mass.

The sky was as clear as a bell and I could see Vega in the Constellation Lyra. Vega is the fifth brightest star in the night sky. As I gazed at Vega, I imagined I was rising into the sky for a closer look at that beautiful blue star.

Later that day I read about some of the other bright stars in the night sky, all of them are part of our Milky Way Galaxy. The author wrote about how many light years it would take to reach Vega and those magnificent stars.
But what’s the hurry, I thought. If I had the means to make the journey, 50 or 55 miles an hour would be sufficient for me. Why do we always have to hurry, hurry, hurry all the time.

I would like to travel at a speed that let’s me enjoy all those planets, stars and comets out there. Why speed pass such wonders? God created the universe and everything in it for our enjoyment and awe.

When we are having a rough day, prayer and exploring Vega and the mysteries of the universe is God’s way of getting our mind off the challenges we have here on earth.

Somewhere up there beyond Vega, beyond the Milky Way, and a billion galaxies is God, Creator of the Heavens and the earth. He’s aware of me in our back yard on this tiny, beautiful planet, which is the third planet from another great star, our Sun.