The Vastness of Space:The above photograph was taken by the Hubble telescope directed towards a black section of deep space; that is were nothing is visible when viewed in real time. This time lapse photograph reveals the vastness of our universe. The two bright lights are stars in our Milky Way Galaxy. All the rest are not stars but galaxies. There are literally thousands of galaxies evident in just this one view from the telescope. Astronomers estimate that there are billions of such galaxies in our universe, and each of them contain billions of stars.

Given the vastness of the universe and the immense numbers of galaxies and stars, is there a reasonable possibility that life exists elsewhere in the universe, or are we the only living things in the entire cosmos?

A 1996 Gallop poll revealed that 72% of Americans believed in extraterrestrial life, and 90% of those who believed in that life, felt it was more advanced than human life. When people think of life on other planets, they tend to think of it like finding a pearl in an oyster. The more oysters you have the greater the chance of finding a pearl. If you have billions of oysters to open, then you’re sure to find quite a few pearls. That’s because pearls form by chance; a piece of sand gets into an oyster and they create the pearl material around it.

What about the origin of life? Could it occur by chance events? Two former atheist scientists, an astrophysicist and an astronomer, calculated the odds of amino acids randomly associating into proteins and DNA to form even the simplest of single celled organisms to be one in 10 to the 40,000 power. In terms of statistics, anything with odds less than 1 in 10 to the 50th power is considered impossible. So from a scientific, rational and logical viewpoint, a chance origin of life is clearly not possible. The vastness of space and the large number of stars is completely irrelevant to the question of whether or not there is life out there, because the existence of life is not like the existence of a pearl in an oyster; it’s not a question of chance. The question is, did God decide to create life somewhere else or not?

With our telescopes we have uncovered many spectacular sights in the depths of space. Some of the most interesting of these are quasars. “Quasar” is short for “quasi-stellar radio source.” The first was discovered in 1960, when a distant object which seemed to have the appearance of a star (hence quasi-stellar) was seen to have an extremely high energy emission, similar to that of an entire galaxy. They are incredibly intense, bright lights, estimated to be 100 billion times brighter than the brightest star. Scientists went on to discover more and more of these quasars spread out throughout the universe, many of them great distances from us. In 1976, a scientist named Varshni plotted the location of the then known quasars and found that they were not randomly distributed in the universe. When he plotted their location relative to earth he found that they were arranged in orderly layers or spheres. These spheres extend throughout the whole universe and are organized in 57 concentric shells. At this time, scientists have now identified about 20,000 quasars, and Varshni’s original finding of their organized distribution remains unchanged. If you were to plot out the quasars’ positions relative to any other point in the universe, their distribution would appear random. It’s only when their positions are plotted relative to earth that the pattern of concentric shells is revealed. Some astrophysicists refer to this as the quasar distribution “problem.” It is a problem to the atheist scientists because as atheists they cannot accept the notion that the earth has any special significance, so they try to explain away the findings. But the fact remains, some of the brightest lights in the heavens are arranged in orderly circles around Earth.

These quasars are an impressive sign of light in the heavens; sort of like the Star of Bethlehem. Both signs emphasize the significance of the things they shine upon. Just as astronomers try to explain away the distribution of quasars around earth so too they try to explain the star of Bethlehem as a comet, or some other natural event that the simple people of the time couldn't understand. They also try to explain away the motion of the sun at Fatima as mass hysteria or an optical illusion among the thousands present; the medical miracles at Lourdes as some simple natural phenomena, or the miraculous incorrupibility of some of the saints. Those who choose to deny the existence of God - and it is a choice; atheism is not a scientific or rational conclusion, but a choice: “I will not serve,” - Those who choose to deny the existence of God will always find reasons to deny his signs which are meant to point us to eternal truths. And so with all signs, some will accept them and some will not. As St. John writes, “He came to His own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God.” John 1:11,12. Recognize the sign, and you recognize the truth, that you are called to be children of God. Like Bethlehem, the Earth and our sun appear small compared to many other planets and stars out there. But rings of quasars ripple out from us throughout the entire universe. What greater sign of our significance could we ask for?

What did the Maji do upon entering the cave beneath the star and finding only an infant lying in a manger? Did they say, “That’s it? Let’s see if there’s a king somewhere else, maybe in a different town?” No, they accepted the sign and the truth, even when they did not fully understand it, and they fell to their knees in homage, offering their gifts. What should we do in the face of the signs we have seen? Should we look elsewhere? The earth is the Bethlehem of the universe, where God, the true light entered creation. You and I, through our being members of The Body of Christ, are in fact the light of the world: children of God. Compared to that, it’s everything else in the universe that is insignificant.

Should we believe there is extraterrestrial life? Why is it we believe in some things and not others? We don’t believe everything. Look at your feet. Do you believe there is an invisible dog sitting at your feet? If not, why not? Is it possible? Couldn’t God put an invisible dog at each of our feet if He wanted to? There are rational reasons for believing some things and not others. One is we have direct evidence with our senses, or we have a reliable testimony of someone else who has direct evidence. Another reason is that something is a rational logical conclusion from our intellect: such as when you see it’s raining out, you can conclude that the ground is wet. Another reason is that it is something we know from revelation. Regarding the invisible dog; there is no evidence to your or other people’s senses - we do not hear a dog panting; there is no rational reason to believe so; and there is nothing in revelation to lead to believe so. In other words, you don’t believe because there is no reason to believe. But do you believe that there is a guardian angel by your side? You have no physical evidence of it but you do have it on reliable testimony from saints such as St. Gemma who spoke with her guardian angel every day. You also have evidence from revelation through the teaching magisterium of The Church, so you believe. So is it possible that there’s life in outer space? Could God have created life on other planets if He wanted to? Of course, He can do anything. But is there any evidence, any rational reason to believe, any credible testimony, anything in revelation implying it? No. There is no more reason to believe in life in outer space than to believe that there is an invisible dog sitting at your feet.

This Advent, as you prepare for Christmas, preparing to celebrate the moment that the true light came into the world, think of the Star of Bethlehem and the quasars, recognize the signs and gifts from God, and embrace that power to become children of God, unique and supreme in the universe, and like the maji, fall to your knees in homage, offering Him your gifts of sacrifice, penance and praise. Advent is the time for sacrifice and we still have one week left. Like Lent we give things up, maybe desserts, or ice cream, or we fast. The goal is to be detached from the things of this world which hold our attention, so that we can focus our attention more on God.

During this last week of Advent, make some sacrifices; take a half portion of food at a meal, skip a dessert, give your candy or chocolate to a friend or family member, go out of your way to say some kind words to a sibling. And while you make those sacrifices, think of yourself becoming detached from these things that you enjoy, not as a punishment, but as a way to clear your table so to speak; you’re making room so that you can receive grace, the grace to achieve an intimate closeness with God. If you make some sacrifices this Monday and approach them in this way, almost immediately you can see a change. Monday evening, go to you room and pray for 15 minutes. After acknowledging the presence of God with reverence, and asking forgiveness for your sins, offer your detachment - your cleared table and ask for the grace to be closer to God. If thoughts enter into your mind, just turn them away, ignore them and think only about that empty table and your willingness to receive. If you sincerely approach Our Lord in this way, you’ll find that your understanding will be illuminated by the wisdom of The Son, and your will to do what’s right will be made glad in the Holy Spirit, and your soul will feel the embrace of The Father’s strength and power, in the abyss of His sweetness. Those are the words of John of The Cross as he describes Divine intimacy.

This type of prayer is mental prayer, and during it you can have moments of closeness with God that are like a rush of awareness of God, the comfort of that embrace, guidance, support, everything you need and could possibly want. Think of the sense you have when you see a close friend especially after not seeing them for a while, or a family member or even the experience of a crush. As a young teenager, that crush type of attraction is very common. There’s something that draws you to this other person. All it takes is the turn of a girl’s head, a boy’s glance and smile. It’s not love of course. You find that out pretty quickly; it turns out the guy or the girl is a bit of a jerk, or you realize that there are lots of attractive boys and girls out there, and that there’s much more to a person that what you see at first glance. But there’s something very memorable about that infatuation or longing. It’s like everything in you is drawn to that person. This longing returns when couples fall in love and marry. It’s that longing from within to be with another. But even then, as good, holy and strong as that love leading to marriage is, that desire is really a foreshadowing, a reflection of what’s at the root of this yearning to be with another, which is a longing for God.

We are made to be one with God. That’s the driving force behind all your passions, every close friendship, every crush, or strong family bond. On Christmas day, God became one of us, so we could become one with Him. In this life , that’s called divine union or divine intimacy and you do that through mental prayer. John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila were masters of mental prayer. When they were practicing mental prayer, they would at times levitate. One time they were seen talking about spiritual things, when they both become lost in prayer and levitated. That’s a sign too. Most holy saints proficient in mental prayer did not levitate. It happens to a few as a sign, telling us something; these saints really did something right in this regard; listen to them. Having achieved divine union these distinguished saints wrote books telling us how to do it. This is something you can and should do now. You have to wait for so many other things: driving, voting, dating, getting married, etc. You can do this now, you’re old enough. Catherine of Siena was only 13 when she was having her “dialogue with Christ” and levitating in prayer. It’s really not that complicated either: sacrifice, detachment and mental prayer. You just have to do it.

Now if you skip lunch on Monday, don’t expect to be levitating by Tuesday. But you can reasonably expect, if you approach your prayer with sincerity and sacrifice, your cleared table, that you won’t go away empty-handed. Teresa of Avila said that to the sincere, God will not fail to give a least a drop of this water, that is, grace. Our Lord Himself said that He knocks at the door, all we have to do is let Him in, and He and His Father will come in and have dinner with us. Not bad. It’s also said that with any soul seeking God, God is seeking that soul much more.

This is what makes us supreme and unique in the universe, and that’s why the quasars are circled around us like so many spot lights. You are made to be one with God, beginning now in this life, every day, in everything you think, say and do. That makes you the center of creation: the center of the universe. God became one of us so we could become one with Him. That’s what we’re preparing for; that’s what Advent is all about.

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Evolution
Stigmata
Extraterrestrials
The Real Presence
The Eucharist
Providence
Theology of the Body
Faith and Reason
The Reality of the Human Soul