INDIANAPOLIS – – God is omnipresent, but in a particular way, He’s also been present in the Eucharist aboard the International Space Station.
That’s what Space Force Colonel and former NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins told a packed stadium on the final day of the National Eucharistic Congress.
In September of 2013, Hopkins was getting ready to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. He found comfort knowing that his wife and two sons were watching from an observation area.
“Even more reassuring, quite literally sitting right next to my heart in the pocket of my spacesuit, was a pyx with the spirit, the body, of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Hopkins said. The crowd erupted in wild cheers.
“You can’t imagine the comfort it gave me over the next nine minutes when that rocket literally hurled me into space accelerating at 17,000 miles per hour, that no matter what happened, Jesus Christ was with me.”
Hopkins went on to describe how he became a Catholic some years earlier. Julie, his wife, was Catholic and the couple was married in the Church. Though he attended Mass with the family, Hopkins said he had blinders on. Even though the couple’s sons made their First Communion and were enrolled in religious education, Hopkins said he had no intention of converting.
Hopkins’ career was going well in those years, but there was a void in spite of material and professional success. “I finally realized a stronger relationship with Jesus Christ was what I needed to fill that hole.” He had walked through the physical door of the Catholic Church many times but “I never fully entered,” Hopkins said. In 2012, he was received into the Church.
“I received Communion for the first time and at that moment, my life changed forever.” Hopkins’ declaration was met with thunderous applause.
When humans venture into space, Hopkins noted, they don’t just take their science and technology. “We take our language, our culture and our society,” Hopkins said. “And in my case, Jesus Christ.”
Hopkins spent 333 days in space, orbiting Earth more than 5,000 times. At times, he participated in space walks, leaving the comfort and security of the spacecraft. These ventures into the void are one of the riskiest endeavors for astronauts. Each time he did a spacewalk, he received one of the hosts before stepping into the void.
“I knew no matter what happened, Jesus was with me.”
