The Man of the Shroud Exhibit coming to Vandalia

By ANDREW HANSEN

     Editor

VANDALIA — You are invited to see a replica of the Shroud of Turin, which is believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus, and to learn about the history and science behind it by experiencing The Man of the Shroud Exhibit, coming to Mother of Dolors Parish in Vandalia for display Sept. 8-14.

The Shroud is one of the most scientifically studied religious icons in history. As science has progressed, so has the speculation on how the image of the crucified man of the Shroud was made. After decades of exhaustive and medical, historical, and scientific research, the Center for the Study of the Passion of the Christ and the Holy Shroud has developed a moving and informative mobile exhibit on the Shroud of Turin.

The centerpiece is a full-length canvas replica of the Shroud made by the Shroud of Turin Education and Research Association, Inc. In addition, the mobile exhibit contains a large, crucified corpus showing the wounds of Christ corresponding to the passion narrative in the Gospel accounts and the wounds shown on the Shroud. The exhibit contains over 31 popup display banners detailing the history and science of the Shroud. The Conventual Franciscan Friars of the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe at Marytown in Libertyville are making this exhibit possible in Vandalia.

To check it out, visit Mother of Dolors Parish Center at 705 N. St. Clair St., Vandalia, IL 62471. There is no charge, and it's open to the public.

The exhibit is open on the following days and times:

Sept. 8: 5-7p.m.

Sept. 9: Noon-2 p.m.; 5-7 p.m.

Sept 10: 1-4 p.m., with Shroud scholar Mark Antonacci giving a talk at 2 p.m.

Sept. 11: 10 a.m.-noon; 5-7 p.m.

Sept. 12: 10 a.m.-noon; 5-7 p.m.

Sept. 13: 10 a.m.-noon; 5-7 p.m.

Sept. 14: 10 a.m.-noon

On Friday, Sept. 15 through Sunday, Sept. 17, Father Lawrence Carney will give a retreat on the "Devotion to the Holy Face" at Our Sorrowful Mother's Ministry in Vandalia, which will also include the Man of the Shroud Exhibit. More information can be found by visiting: osmm.org.

100 years of faith

WWII veteran Robert Edward Ryan of Alton shares century of advice

By ANDREW HANSEN  

     Editor

ALTON —It’s a Sunday morning in Alton. Fresh off a work week as a lawyer at his own firm, Robert Edward Ryan puts on his suit and tie and gets in his car and drives to his home parish of Ss. Peter and Paul for Mass. He gets there early because he is an usher at this morning’s Mass. He greets familiar faces and friends with a smile, charm, and pep in his step. Everyone calls him “Bob.” Envisioning these Sunday morning scenes, you would never know that on Sept. 23, Ryan turned 100 years old.   

“I’m short on wisdom; I’ve just lived my life and feel that God has smiled at me all my life in whatever I’ve done,” Ryan said.

Born in Alton, he has called the city home since. Married to Mary Jane for 53 years, Ryan is now widowed (she died in 2013). He has three children, one deceased, and three granddaughters.

Remembering his baptism date, Oct. 14, 1923, and the priest who baptized him, Msgr. E. L. Spaulding, VC, Ryan has called Ss. Peter and Paul his home parish since the very beginning, ushering there for half a century.

“I’m Catholic because I believe in what the faith teaches us down through the centuries, until now,” Ryan said.

Having a strong faith has come in handy over the past 100 years. Serving in World War II from 1943-1945, Ryan was captured and imprisoned for 11 months in a German war camp.

“Sometimes it was bad living conditions and sometimes not,” Ryan recalls. “Occasionally a priest came to offer Mass which was a great help. The worst was when the Russians were coming (our camp was southeast of Berlin). We were afraid if the Russians got us, we might be terminated. But at the end, we were evacuated, marched on and off for six days in snowy weather, finally loaded into box cars, traveling for three days until we were in American territory. The worst part of that was being in those box cars with no toilet, lights, seats, beds, windows, or heat. That was horrible. Also, the day we were evacuated we had a Field Mass which was a blessing.”

Ryan is known for his sense of humor, with pastor Father Jeff Holtman, OFS, calling him a “remarkable man.” When asked about pieces of advice Ryan can offer, his answer is simple, “Play by the rules, be kind, and be respectful. Many people don’t do this,” he said.

Ryan attends Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. He says he doesn’t like his prayer life to be just saying prayers for the sake of saying prayers. Over the past century, he has come to appreciate the power of prayer, something he calls “POP.”

“(There is) no doubt in my mind that when we were in combat, and then in the war camp, that I had family, friends, and others praying for me/us,” Ryan said.

With the busyness of today’s world, relationships with others, be it family, friends, co-workers, or even brief encounters with strangers, can be difficult to manage. Ryan says if you want to have authentic relationships, it starts with “being respectful to others no matter who they are.”

As Ryan thinks back on his 100 years, he recalls a story from a granddaughter’s wedding reception that sums up his life perfectly.

“Her dad got up and told the groom that he was becoming a part of the best family around. That’s the way I feel.”

Want to visit?It’s harvest time!

Pumpkin patch, fall fun help Joehl family share their faith

By DIANE SCHLINDWEIN

    Managing Editor

The Greene Fields Farm u-pick pumpkin patch and farm is open weekends from Saturday, Sept. 9 through Sunday, Oct. 22. The hours are Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The farm is also open on Columbus Day, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They are located at 311 Daum Station Road in Greenfield. GREENFIELD — When harvest time comes around every year, Regan and Christie Joehl always find many reasons to be especially thankful.  With five sons and another baby on the way, they know God has blessed them with a fine family, a working farm, and great friends. Now, thanks to an idea they came up with eight years ago, they are now heavily involved in the happy business of pumpkin farming and welcoming thousands of people to their Greene Fields Farm several weekends in the fall, starting this year on Saturday, Sept. 9.

Members of All Saints Parish in White Hall, Regan and Christie, who were both raised on farms in Illinois, were married in August of 2007 at St. Ambrose Church in Godfrey. Christie says she and her husband have a good life, and that was her life’s dream.  She says she has “always longed for space and a simple life.” “I knew in college that I wanted to marry a farmer, if possible,” Christie said. “Thankfully, I met Regan in college, in a soil science class of all things.”

 “We have eight children,” Regan said. “Two, through miscarriage, are our family’s patron saints, and then there is Nathan (14), Caleb (12), Jeremiah (10), Ryan (8), Jackson (7), and we are pregnant with number eight, due in January.”

What began in 2016 as a 2.5-acre pumpkin patch, meant mostly to provide the family with affordable pumpkin picking in the fall, has led to an enjoyable and  profitable business venture in Greene Fields Farm. That was also the year the couple decided that Christie should leave her job as a high school agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor to focus on their young family full-time.

“I knew it would be difficult to afford to go to a pumpkin patch in the fall and having grown pumpkins as a kid, I decided to grow them ourselves,” Regan said. “We had such a good crop that we put it out on social media for our community to come out and pick our extras.” That first-year crop helped the family out financially, so they decided to expand — and expand they did!

There is no admission charge to visit the pumpkin patch and parking is provided. Concessions are for sale on-site. “This year our pumpkin patch is 30 acres along with 6,000 mums, two acres of apples, cut flowers, full concessions, and five acres just to park all the cars,” Regan said. “We grow every type of pumpkin, gourd, and squash that I can get seed for; this year we are growing 170 varieties. Every shape and color imaginable and all the way from a 300-pound giant pumpkin to a gourd the size of a ping pong ball. And beyond that, we grow 10 or so varieties of ornamental corn, beautiful zinnias and sunflowers, apples like you’ve never tasted before, not to mention mums in every color you can imagine. God creates amazingly and we do our best to showcase the vast intricacies of His creation, and His love for us, on our farm.”

Besides the autumn pumpkin, mum, flowers, and ornamental corn business, Regan, who also farms with his father, Tony Joehl, and his brother Drew Joehl, says homesteading is their gig. “We have way too many chickens, Berkshire pigs, a couple rabbits, a few beef cows, and two Jersey dairy cows that Christie and Caleb milk every day,” he said. “The boys each have their own unique interests, and disinterests for that matter, with the animals. While the animals don’t contribute much financially to the farm they do provide abundantly for our family in many ways.” Visitors to the pumpkin patch sometimes like to wander around and see all the animals.

Regan says pumpkins and mums are well-suited to thrive where they farm, but they certainly don’t grow themselves!  “Just like growing anything else, they come with tons of challenges and having a successful crop is nothing short of a miracle.  A miracle that takes a ton of work,” he said. “I’ve loved growing things since I was a kid and to be honest, I love the battle that it is to have a successful pumpkin season. We are constantly researching, talking with other growers, trying new things, pivoting with the weather, and discerning all the options before us.  And not just in the growing the crop but in marketing it and guiding our business.”

For more information go to greenefieldsfarm.com. Regan is quick to point out that Greene Fields Farm is all about family and the unique role each member plays in the business. Christie homeschools the boys, and Regan says they have “grown with the farm.” “They are a huge part of everything we do with the pumpkin patch; it’s just so intertwined with our family culture and identity,” he said. “Each one has their own callings within the farm and that’s the beautiful thing about it: the farm provides experiences varied enough to cater to each one of them. The pumpkin patch has been a great gift to our family as a medium to experience so many of the teachings our faith provides us.

“It is a great way to raise a family and we definitely talk about it being a part of their future if that is where they are called,” he said. “The challenge to me, as a father, is to use the farm to help them discover and discern their vocation and not to be trapped or overwhelmed by the demands of the farm. That is the big picture for now. While it’s a ton of work, we are having a lot of fun, and the boys are a huge help.”

Opening their farm and home to visitors is also a leap of faith. “I love that our business is an expression of who God made me to be,” Regan said.  “As a man, and an introverted one at that, I was made to create, and I love that what we can create as a family can speak to others in ways that I can’t otherwise do with words.”

On a busy weekend, the farm welcomes upwards of 5,000 people, Regan says. “Most of our year, especially our fall, revolves around preparing for those big weekends. It is busy! The insanity of fall has really helped us to appreciate and embrace the slower times of winter.”

“To serve God, support our family and allow our community an exceptional opportunity to experience the awe of God’s creation on the farm we’re entrusted with.” Greene Fields Farm mission statementSome of the Joehl’s favorite customers are those from who come from the Catholic community. “From the Cursillo community to our clergy, it’s always a great day when you show up. Three of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George (Alton) have been coming for a few years now and when they show up my radio blows up with, ‘The Sisters are here! The Sisters are here!’  Just their presence is  such a joyful witness and brings an energy to the patch that cannot be replicated. Habits, collars, and cassocks are welcome here!

“How cool is it that we get to use pumpkins to preach?” Regan asks. “Our calling to growth of the pumpkin patch has happened in a beautiful parallel with our calling to and growth in our Catholic faith. The farm has been a priceless medium for us to experience our faith together as a family and to be drawn to Christ and His Church. Beyond that, it is our ministry. When you come to our farm you will see Catholic artwork, statues, sayings, and Scripture. You are going to know we are Catholic.

“Then out in the field you are going to experience God in a way that so many of us have lost touch with; at the very crux of the vastness and intricacy of His creation,” he said. People might not be able to put it into words, he says, but they know they are experiencing something profound. He says his family hopes that, through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, God helps each and every person who sets foot of the farm on their journey toward Him.  “Really, it about so much more than pumpkins,” he said.

“It’s amazing to us, though, how God had been forming Christie and I for this long before we ever knew,” he said. “While we had been focused on other pursuits, He took all of our experiences, education, strengths, and passions and guided us into being pumpkin farmers. It’s amazing how to look back at how God formed us to fulfill this vocation and it’s exciting to look forward to what lies ahead.”

The Holiest Adventure days for moms/daughters and fathers/sons coming this fall — sign up now

Are you craving screenless quality time with your children? Join Catholics in our diocese for The Holiest Adventure — mother/daughter edition and father/son edition. These are two separate adventure days for moms and their daughters and dads and their sons. The days will be packed with fun activities, Mass, adoration, and delicious food.

The mother/daughter edition is Saturday, Sept. 16 and is for moms and their daughters in grades 4-9. The father/son edition is Saturday, Oct. 14, and is for dads and their sons in grades 4-9. Both events are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The mother/daughter edition will be at the St. Francis Convent, 1 Franciscan Way, Alton, IL 62002. The father/son edition will be at The Villa Catholic Life Center, 1903 E Lake Shore Drive, Springfield, IL 62712.

To register, go to www.dio.org/events. Cost is $40.00 per mother/daughter or father/son pair. Each additional child is $5 extra. For questions, email Daniel Heffernan at .

John 6:53 says, “Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you.’” So, what about the faithful in other religions who do not believe in the true Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and therefore, do not receive Him?

-             Nancy in Springfield

Dear Nancy,

When my wife, Pam, and I became Catholic in 2003, we had some challenging conversations with family and friends. One of the issues that we had to address was to reassure our non-Catholic Christian friends that we did not think they were not real Christians or that they were not going to make it to heaven. Jesus said in Mark 16:16, “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.” And St. Paul said in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

The reason that Pam and I became Catholic is because we wanted the fullness of life that is found only in the Roman Catholic Church. It is only here that God makes available all the gifts that God wants his people to have: all the sacraments, the Tradition, the teaching authority, and the bond of unity that comes from being in communion with the successor of St. Peter, the pope. All these gifts are only available to those within the Catholic Church. All other churches and Christian communities participate in the gifts of God to the extent that they remain close to the Catholic faith. The Eastern Orthodox churches retain more of the faith and so are considered true churches. The protestant denominations retain less, and so are not in the fullest sense but are still our brothers and sisters in Christ through faith.

As the document, Unitatis Redintegratio (Second Vatican Council's decree on ecumenism) says, “For men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Justified by faith in Baptism, [they] are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church” (quoted in the CCC 1271). Even those who, “through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart” can be saved (Lumen Gentium, quoted in CCC 847).

So, if a person who doesn’t know any better can receive eternal life without partaking of the sacred Body and precious Blood of Christ, why would anyone who does understand the richness of the Blessed Sacrament want to? Holy Communion brings the real presence of Christ into our lives in the most intimate and powerful way imaginable. How can I reject that knowing what is at stake and knowing how important it is to Jesus that I participate in the sacrament as Jesus’ words from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, which you quoted, show us?

- Father Scott Snider is pastor of St. Brigid, Liberty; St. Edward, Mendon; and St. Joseph, Quincy and is the Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.

Seats for historic Eucharistic Congress in Springfield Oct. 28 filling up quickly
Inquire with your parish now to reserve your spot
By ANDREW HANSEN 
Editor  

The excitement for the first ever Eucharistic Congress in our diocese is growing as parishes are reporting many of their allocated seats for the historic event are taken, so if you want to go, you better act fast. 

The Eucharistic Congress takes place Saturday, Oct. 28 at the BOS Center in Springfield. Seats are free. The day-long event features four popular Catholic speakers, Dr. Scott Hahn, Sister M. Karolyn Nunes, FSGM, Father Chase Hilgenbrinck, Father Denis Robinson, OSB; inspirational videos; sacraments; and Mass with Catholics from across the diocese.  

The Eucharistic Congress will also celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the transfer of the See city of the diocese from Alton to Springfield, which took place on Oct. 26, 1923.

To attend, you must contact your parish office. If your parish has all their available seats reserved when you inquire, the public release of any more seats will be in September, if they become available.

At the Eucharistic Congress, food will be available for purchase at concession stands, and you will be allowed to exit and return to the BOS Center throughout the day. For families, a family room will be open in the basement of the BOS Center to allow children to play (the parent/guardian must stay with their child(ren) in that room at all times as the room will not be supervised by staff). Confession and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will be available throughout the day. Catholic vendors will have booths and the diocesan Office of Archives and Record Management will have a display of history and photographs to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the transfer of the diocesan See from Alton to Springfield. 

There is no assigned seating at the Eucharistic Congress as it’s on a first come, first serve basis. So, if you want seats close to the speakers and altar, it’s advised to arrive when the doors open at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 28 to claim your seats. Please be courteous, however, when choosing your seats, which also includes not leaving 1-2 empty seats between you and your neighbor. We’re expecting a full arena, so please sit next to someone to leave room for others when they arrive.

There will be no Masses at any parish in the diocese Oct. 28. For more information about the Eucharistic Congress including frequently asked questions, go to: dio.org/revival-bos.

SIDE BARS:

The schedule of the Eucharistic Congress on Oct. 28 

• 10:30 a.m.: Doors open, family room open, vendor row open
• 11 a.m.: Eucharistic adoration and confession available in basement (both end at 3:30 p.m.), concession stands open
• 11:30 a.m. - 12:35 p.m.: Screening of documentary, God is Alive | Stories of incredible faith and miraculous events in Central Illinois
• 12:50 p.m. – 1:35 p.m.: Dr. Scott Hahn presentation
• 1:50 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.: Screening of The Chair, video that highlights the history of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and Bishop Paprocki's journey to Springfield
• 2:30 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.: Sister M. Karolyn Nunes, FSGM, presentation
• 2:50 p.m. – 3:10 p.m.: Father Chase Hilgenbrinck presentation
• 3:10 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Father Denis Robinson, OSB, presentation
• 4 p.m.: Mass

Schedule subject to change

Financially support/sponsor Eucharistic Congress

Are you interested in financially supporting this historic Eucharistic Congress? Please consider donating or becoming a sponsor. If you would like to make a financial gift to support the Eucharistic Congress, visit dio.org/give. If you are interested in event sponsorship, contact Rachel Langdon at rlangdon.org/(217)321-1113. Thank you!

Aren’t Catholics supposed to oppose the death penalty?
Mike in Springfield

As the Church, which is entrusted with handing on what Christ taught, Catholics find themselves discerning how to live the radical call of forgiveness which was a hallmark of Christ’s teaching and life.  His Sermon on the Mount is a clear call to live differently than the world around us, realizing the challenge that this is, “You have heard it said, love your kinsmen and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5: 43-48).

The Church also has stood for the right and duty of a society to protect its members from those who hurt others, who commit crimes which endanger others, and who pose a risk to those around them.   Throughout the centuries, this has included the right for societies to utilize capital punishment for those offenders who have committed the most serious crimes which endanger the lives of others when this is the only way to protect the innocent. For the majority of the history of the world, such a punishment would be the only way to secure the peace and of those convicted of the most heinous crimes.   However, while upholding the right of society to inflict capital punishment in theory, as societies have developed and methods of securing prisoners away from the general population are available, the question has been revisited.

Pope Francis’ Oct. 3, 2020 encyclical, entitled Fratelli Tutti, rejected capital punishment as a “false answer that … ultimately does no more than introduce new elements of destruction in the fabric of national and global society.” Citing centuries of death-penalty opposition by leading Catholic scholars and clergy and calling attention to the possibility of judicial error and the misuse of capital punishment as a tool of persecution by autocratic regimes, Pope Francis called upon “all Christians and people of good will” to work for “the abolition of the death penalty, legal, or illegal, in all its forms.” 

The pope presented his decree as a direct and inevitable successor to St. John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, condemning capital punishment “except in cases of absolute necessity … when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society.” Those circumstances, St. John Paul said, “… are very rare, if not practically non-existent.” 

“St. John Paul II stated clearly and firmly that the death penalty is inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice,” Francis declared. “There can be no stepping back from this position. Today we state clearly that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible’ and the Church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition worldwide.”

Father Peter Harman is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in Effingham and holds a doctorate in Moral Theology from the Catholic University of America. 

This was a common scene at all the parishes that hosted Totus Tuus this summer as children learned about the Catholic faith. Here, teacher Martin McGrath, also a seminarian of our diocese, discusses the Mass, with one young boy representing the priest. Photo by Rose KehoeTotus Tuus brings nearly 700 children closer to our faith
By ANDREW HANSEN 
Editor 

Totus Tuus, a popular weeklong faith-based program that was hosted by nine parishes this summer across our diocese, was about one thing: getting children to better understand our Catholic faith so they can grow more richly in their relationship with God. Whether it was going to daily Mass and receiving the Eucharist, going to confession, learning the mysteries of the rosary, eucharistic adoration, or reading the Bible, among other religious based activities, Totus Tuus combined faith and fun (games, funny skits, and outside activities) so children not only stayed engaged, but more fully learned about the beauty of the Catholic faith and the sacraments.

This summer, nearly 700 children participated, about 100 of which were in grades 7-12. Nine missionaries (college-aged students) formed two teams that traveled week to week to different parishes in the diocese, leading the program. 

“All three of my kids came back every day exhausted but happy,” said Elena Tejeda. “I heard them recount their day and the various faith centered activities they did, but what stood out was the impact of a member of the Totus Tuus team in each memory. At Totus Tuus, my kids were able to see joy filled people who love their faith as much as they do, it was inspiring to them.” 

Parishes hosting Totus Tuus this year were St. Francis Solanus (Quincy), Sacred Heart (Effingham), St. Boniface (Edwardsville), Our Lady of Lourdes (Decatur), Holy Family (Granite City), St. Isidore (Dieterich), St. Katharine Drexel (Springfield), St. Mary (Paris), and St. John the Evangelist (Carrollton).

The Office of Vocations for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, which helps organize Totus Tuus, is hoping for at least three teams of missionaries next year which will allow for more parishes in the diocese to host Totus Tuus.  

“The missionaries were absolutely amazing, the parishes were wonderful, and we’d love to welcome additional parishes to join next year,” said Daniel Heffernan, director of Totus Tuus. “The feedback we’ve received has been awesome as the experience really impacted children in a positive and holy way. Authentic friendships were formed, positive memories created, and faith boosted —a refreshing combination in today’s world.” 

Stay tuned next spring and summer to sign up your child for Totus Tuus. 

The night Jerseyville’s Father Marty Smith saw a UFO
What does the Church say about this phenomenon?
By ANDREW HANSEN 
Editor 

JERSEYVILLE — What was supposed to be a normal spring night for Father Marty Smith, pastor of several parishes in Jersey County, turned into something out of this world.

In 2018, Father Smith invited a friend to come over to his home in Jerseyville to have some pizza and sit by a fire outside, as the weather had finally warmed up enough, and it was a pleasant evening. After they ate, the two of them were sitting around the fire and talking about a variety of topics under a dark and clear sky. That is when things took an eye-popping turn.

“As we were talking, I detected movement out of the peripheral vision of my left eye,” Father Smith recalled. “Thinking it might be an owl, I turned my head and looked over my garage only to see not an owl, but something being dimly illuminated by the moonlight moving at an incredible speed. Staring for a moment to figure out what I was looking at, it suddenly became apparent that it looked like a giant black triangle seemingly the size of a house, with a dim white strip along the side. It had no lights on it, was making nearly no sound aside from a very slight whooshing sound, and it appeared to be flying at about 3,000-5,000 feet to the northeast.”

Father Smith then asked his friend if he was seeing it too. His friend confirmed the same. In just a matter of a few seconds, whatever it was shot across the sky, gone. 

“We both were shocked and perplexed by what we saw,” Father Smith said. “We spent some time discussing and explaining what it possibly could have been, but never figured out what exactly we saw. Now, I’m not sure what it was we saw that night, but as a former Army paratrooper, I am familiar with the altitude it appeared to be flying at because that was the altitude we often jumped from in the military. I am also familiar with a wide variety of military aircraft in flight, having seen many in my time in the service and at airshows throughout the years. Whatever it was, it looked like nothing I have ever seen. I also enjoy observing stars, tracking satellites, watching meteor shows, owls, and nighttime birds throughout the year. It was none of those. It moved across the sky so quickly, and it was so dark that even if there had been more time for me to grab my phone and attempt a picture, I’m not sure anything could have been seen on it. It could have been something natural, an optical illusion, it could have been a secret aircraft, or something else totally unknown. Whatever it was, it is a complete mystery, and it defied our explanation.” 

Other people in the area also saw it too, confirming it wasn’t just these two friends hanging out by the campfire.

Recently, there has been a renewed interest in UFOs (unidentified flying objects), now called UAPs (unidentified arial phenomena). This is in part due to the revelation by the Pentagon that between 2007 and 2012, it had been investigating this phenomenon in a program called A.A.T.I.P. (Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program). That, along with the release of videos from U.S. Navy fighter jets that captured unknown flying objects, and the fact that these videos were confirmed as authentic by the Department of Defense and other high government officials, continues to grow interest in UFOs. In July, John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for the White House, said that “Some of these phenomena (UFOs), we know, are having an impact on our training ranges.” So, what does the Church say on this topic? 

“The Church doesn’t have a defined teaching on the topic of unidentified arial phenomenon or on extra-terrestrial life for that matter,” Father Smith said. “This is because first, we don’t know what these objects are and what the explanation for them is. Are they a natural phenomenon we do not yet understand? A secret technology being experimented by a government or group? Or, is it technology that didn’t come from this world? There are several different opinions on that question.

“I have heard people wrongly make the argument that if alien life were discovered, it would destroy religion or break down our faith and the Church. That is not true. Most of the time when I hear people make this claim, it comes from people who don’t have a very good understanding of what the faith, Scripture, and the Church are. Let’s say for a moment that alien life were discovered. It does nothing to change the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Revelation of God throughout humanity. It just means that there are still aspects of God’s creation that we do not yet know about, and that will always be true because God is the creator of everything, visible and invisible, seen and unseen. There are many aspects of our faith which are mysteries. A few examples are angels, demons, heaven, hell, miracles, creation, time, and the Holy Trinity. All of these things we can talk about with limited knowledge and experience by what has been revealed to us by God, but the vast majority of these things will remain a mystery to us on earth. If God chose to reveal more to us about these mysteries, it doesn’t end our faith, it enhances it and reveals more to us about God’s creation.”

Many people also wrongly assume that faith and science are opposed to each other. Father Smith points out that the two actually go hand-in-hand. Science can help answer the “how;” however, science cannot answer the “why.” Faith answers the “why” question, and that answer in its simplest form is God.

“The more we learn about science, the more it reveals to us how God has created things and the order in which He has established for how things work,” Father Smith said. “Our faith then strengthens our science to first make sure it is authentic and true, and then to strengthen our trust in God even in the things science cannot yet or never will be able to explain. When a mystery is before us, whether it’s something natural but unknown, manmade, or from another source that we don’t know about, we must realize that none of that changes our faith. Our understanding of things as humans or our choosing to believe or not believe in something doesn’t determine what reality is and what is true. Only God does that. He determines what is true. The topic of UFOs or any mystery is nothing we must worry or be anxious about because our trust is in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, and the Creator of all things.” 

Back to that story in 2018. The following weekend, as Father Smith was in the church preparing to celebrate the weekend Mass, he discovered that his friend who was with him that fateful night had told his dad of the account. His father, an older gentleman with a deep booming voice that could be heard clearly throughout the whole church, was sitting in the front pew with his arms resting on his walker. Father Smith describes the rest: 

“As I walk out to light the candles he says to me, ‘Father … what’s this I hear about you and my son, sitting by a fire, and seeing a UFO?’ I think every person who was already in the church at that moment stopped what they were doing, turned, and was listening. ‘It’s a mystery,’ is all I could say with a laugh. There are some things we may never know.”