By Dennis Kellogg
Director of Communications
“In no way did I ever think I would be the voice behind a podcast.” - Fr. Liam O’Shea-Creal, in “Godspeed: The Journal of a Naval Chaplain” podcast, Episode 1
Even as a child, Father Liam O’Shea-Creal remembers having a great admiration for the military. He came from a family with military experience—his father Robert was a Marine reservist, his two uncles served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, and his grandfathers were in the Navy.
Now, Father O’Shea-Creal is also serving his country, taking his ministry to the seas as a Naval chaplain aboard the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier.
“Serving God and country in this capacity is rather unique,” Father O’Shea-Creal wrote in an email interview with the Southern Nebraska Register. “There are parts of my day that feel like the necessities of work, but at the end of the day I remember that my being here is for the purpose of the sacraments and what God wants to do in the lives of these sailors through the ministry of his Church. My vocation and the work it entails has brought me to serve my country, I hope to never take that honor for granted.”
“Do what chaplains do. Check for trauma, but comfort, remain calm, bring peace.”
- Advice given to Fr. O’Shea-Creal during a training exercise, Episode 3
Father O’Shea-Creal’s day includes celebrating Mass, praying from his breviary, holy hours in the ship’s chapel, meetings, counseling and working out. He has an OCIA class – Order of Christian Initiation for Adults – with about six men pursuing the sacraments of the Church and another 10-15 Catholic sailors joining the class just to learn more about the faith.
“For all intents and purposes, I am a missionary supporting Catholics who are already here and evangelizing those who may never have heard the Gospel,” Father O’Shea-Creal said. “I can’t go out on the decks and preach the Gospel, but around the chapel and in my office, I can speak from my ‘professional training’ and my personal faith.”
Father O’Shea-Creal is also sharing his experience as a chaplain with family, friends and his former parishioners. He has teamed up with his younger brother Killian to create a podcast called “Godspeed: The Journal of a Naval Chaplain.” It is an audio journal of his life in the Navy.
“I got to see up close some destroyers… And a moment I’ll never forget. I got to see a modern aircraft carrier up and close and personal for the first time in my life… I face-timed my little brother. We kind of got to share the moment together… Getting to see those ships for the first time. They’re huge. They’re just huge.” - Episode 5
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Courtesy photos
“I honestly asked myself if I would be good at writing family and friends while deployed. I knew I wouldn’t be good at writing, so I figured recording some audio might be easier! I also knew I had a little brother who would be good at producing it and pushing it out to family,” Father O’Shea-Creal said.
“I remember back when I was first given permission to join the Navy, I searched for books, podcasts, and videos about Naval Chaplaincy, and I couldn’t get enough! So, if this little journal can give others insight into the chaplaincy, then it is the least I can do,” he added.
Father O’Shea-Creal graduated from St. Teresa School and Pius X High School in Lincoln. He began seriously considering a vocational calling as a military chaplain when he was in the seminary. After speaking with his spiritual advisor and Father Brian Kane, rector at St. Gregory the Great Seminary, Father O’Shea-Creal wrote a letter to Bishop James Conley, seeking permission to serve as a chaplain. But at the urging of Father Kane, he didn’t send that letter to the bishop, instead opting for another year of prayer and discernment.
Nine months later, Father O’Shea-Creal was asked to drive the bishop on an eight-hour road trip. He decided to give him that letter during the long car ride. He said Bishop Conley told him they should both pray more and talk once a month about the chaplaincy idea. Four months into that plan, the bishop contacted O’Shea-Creal at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, where he was studying.
“He called me and said, ‘Hey, Liam, I just wanted to call and let you know I’ve been praying and I want to let you become a Naval chaplain.’ And oh, man – elation. I was excited,” Father O’Shea-Creal remembered. “(Bishop Conley) said his father was a sailor during World War II on an aircraft carrier…. He wanted to provide a priest because when he has been generous with priests, the Lord has provided in return.”
Father O’Shea-Creal finished his seminary work and was ordained a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln in 2022. He served for two years at St. Michael Parish in Hastings and one year at North American Martyrs Parish in Lincoln before leaving this summer to begin his current assignment as a Naval chaplain.
Father O’Shea-Creal and his brother Killian have produced 14 episodes of the “Godspeed” podcast so far. Father O’Shea-Creal said each episode requires approval from both the chaplain’s office and the public affairs office on the U.S.S. Gerald Ford carrier.
“We don’t want to put anybody’s life in danger – or 4,000 people’s lives in danger – because I say something inadvertently.”
“If somebody’s willing to call me ‘Father,’ it’s one little thing that reminds me of home… because most people just call me ‘Chaps’ or ‘Chaplain,’ so to be called ‘Father,’ I realized how special it is as a priest. I don’t want to take it for granted.” - Episode 13
The episodes vary in subject matter and length. They have focused on his time this summer at Naval Chaplaincy School in Rhode Island and the prayer he composed when he was invited to read at his graduation there; land navigation training exercises that included celebrating Mass at 4 a.m.; and long hikes that had him walking through brush up to his chest – a notable task, given that Father O’Shea-Creal is 6’4”. Other episodes have included one of his homilies from a Sunday Mass aboard the ship, watching planes land on the deck of the aircraft carrier, and a stop in Oslo, Norway.
“I don’t want this to become something that I feel pressured to plan and overly produce; at the core I want this to be a way for my family and friends to hear what it is like to be out here and to experience my genuine experiences,” Father O’Shea-Creal said. “Some episodes have been planned, but others have been spur of the moment. I have a small audio recorder that I keep on me, and when something fun or interesting happens on the ship, I go back to my state room, see if my roommate is there; if not, I grab my headphones and hit record.”
Father O’Shea-Creal then sends the audio to Killian back in Lincoln, who handles the production of the podcast and the distribution.
“Getting an episode ready usually consists of me listening to his audio for any verbal miscues or drastic spikes in audio,” Killian O’Shea-Creal said. “He doesn’t have access to a nice microphone or anything, so he records on a little handheld recorder.
Sometimes he doesn’t record an intro either, so I might have to step in and record something myself.”
For Killian, the podcast production isn’t just about the work, but it is an opportunity to learn about his brother’s life an ocean away.
“He doesn’t get a lot of time for phone calls, or even texts sometimes. So, most of what I know from his deployment comes from the audio he sends me,” he said. “It’s also kind of a way for me to brag about my brother. Not only is he a Catholic priest who gets to act in the person of Christ and help hundreds of people, but he gets to do that on an aircraft carrier. That’s something I’m more than happy to help him share with people.”
“I certainly miss home, miss family and friends, but I know God is calling me to do this and I’m excited to fulfill that call.” - Episode 2
Father O’Shea-Creal said he hopes this podcast keeps him in touch with his family, friends and brother priests back in Nebraska. He added that he gets emotional just thinking about them. He recalled that when he discerned his vocation to the priesthood for the diocese, “two reasons that I felt at home” in the diocese, “were the presence of my family and the priestly fraternity that I witnessed amongst the priests in our diocese as a high school student at Pius and as a college student at the Newman Center.”
“Those two things are what I miss most right now,” Father O’Shea-Creal said.
“My family is very close knit, we get together often,” he continued. “I miss sharing meals with them, retelling embarrassing stories, and watching my nieces and nephews grow up. Being away from them is difficult, but I know that they are supporting me in prayer and that returning to them will mean a great deal.
“Further, I miss my brother priests,” he added. “During my two years in Hastings and my one year in Lincoln, I was very spoiled by the priests I got to serve alongside. They were friends, mentors, confessors, great examples, and men that I looked up to. Being away from them is more difficult than I expected, but I know that they continue to serve in their vocation, and I am honored that, by them doing that, I am able to be here and serve in my vocation in this way.”
“Thank you for your prayers. I greatly appreciate them for me and all the sailors here. Very exciting things to come. I’m excited to share this journey with you. Just know we’re well on our way and being a chaplain is pretty awesome. Thanks for your prayers. God bless. Godspeed.” - Episode 6
The podcast “Godspeed: The Journal of a Navy Chaplain” is available on Facebook or Spotify.
