The past fifteen months have been a time of crisis and deep challenge for our country, and they have been a particular trial for the Catholics. During this terrible COVID period, many of us have been compelled to fast from attendance at Mass and the reception of the Eucharist. To be sure, numerous Masses and Eucharistic para-liturgies have been made available online, and thank God for these. But Catholics know in their bones that such virtual presentations are absolutely no substitute for the real thing. Now that the doors of our churches are commencing to open wide, I would like to urge every Catholic reading these words: Come back to Mass! Why is the Mass of such central importance? The Second Vatican Council eloquently teaches that the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life”—which is to say, that from which authentic Christianity comes and toward which it…

Los últimos quince meses han sido una época de crisis y de profundos desafíos para nuestro país, y han sido una prueba particular para los católicos. Durante este terrible periodo de COVID, muchos de nosotros nos hemos visto obligados a ayunar de la asistencia a la Misa y de la recepción de la Eucaristía. Ciertamente, se han puesto a disposición numerosas misas y para-liturgias eucarísticas en línea, y gracias a Dios por ellas. Pero los católicos saben íntimamente que esas presentaciones virtuales no sustituyen en absoluto a la realidad. Ahora que las puertas de nuestras iglesias comienzan a abrirse de par en par, me gustaría instar a todos los católicos que lean estas palabras: ¡Vuelvan a la Misa! ¿Por qué la Misa tiene tanta importancia? El Concilio Vaticano II enseña elocuentemente que la Eucaristía es la “fuente y cumbre de la vida cristiana”, es decir, aquello de lo que procede…

The text for Bishop Robert Barron’s commencement address given at the University of St. Thomas in Houston on May 8, 2021. I have the very happy responsibility today of congratulating the University of St. Thomas class of 2021! And also to express my pride in becoming today a member of your class. I’m delighted to be in your company. I would also, of course, like to thank and congratulate your parents, your siblings, your friends, and your professors, who have done so much to bring you to this day and who feel a very justifiable pride in your accomplishments. My fellow graduates, I would like to reflect with you, very briefly, on the meaning of the formation in the Catholic intellectual tradition that you have received here at UST. A standard view today, on display in practically every nook and cranny of our cultural life, is that the…