Bishops Barron and Paprocki stress the importance of ‘inviting Catholics back to Mass’

Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, left, and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield with Andrew Hansen, director of communications for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. / Credit: Diocese of Springfield

CNA Newsroom, Jul 26, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield — both Chicagoans who have known each other since the early days of their priesthood — recently sat down to discuss the most important aspects of living the Catholic faith today, including the importance of inviting Catholics who have stopped practicing the faith back to Mass. 

The two bishops, both of whom have garnered followings in the media — Barron via his Word on Fire media ministry and Paprocki for his expertise as a canon lawyer — appeared together with Andrew Hansen on the Diocese of Springfield’s Dive Deep podcast, recorded during the National Eucharistic Congress last week in Indianapolis. 

In light of the National Eucharistic Revival — of which the July 17-21 congress was the pinnacle — both men agreed that attending Sunday Mass and receiving Christ in the Eucharist is an “underappreciated” and crucial aspect not only of being Catholic, but of earthly happiness as well. 

“The majority of Catholics at least in our country don’t go to Mass every Sunday…but actually, going to Mass on Sunday for us Catholics is fulfillment of the third commandment to keep holy the Sabbath, and the Sabbath is Sunday, and that doesn’t happen twice a month or twice a year — it happens every week,” Paprocki said. 

“[If] you want to be not only a good Catholic but to be happy, you should go to church every Sunday…In terms of closeness, [Jesus is] coming right into our hearts when we receive him at Holy Communion and it’s a way to get close to our Lord in terms of the body of Christ, the Church.”

Barron spoke about how as bishop, he visits parishes in his diocese and always ends his homilies with a call to “bring someone back in the course of this year.”

“And that’s low-hanging fruit. You all know someone in your family, someone at work, some of your kids, whoever…bring that one person back, we’ll double the size of this parish,” Barron said. 

“Catholic people themselves have to realize what Bishop Paprocki said, that they’re in many ways the prime evangelizers…bring them to Mass.” 

Paprocki also noted that if children are brought up with the expectation that attending Sunday Mass is a “given” and not optional, they will be more likely to practice their faith as adults. 

“I sometimes talk to young children and we talk try to talk to them about the importance of going to Mass on Sunday, and they’ll say, ‘Well, I want to go to Mass on Sunday but my mom and dad don’t go, and they don’t want to take me’…and I think that’s really sad because the children know that they should be going to Mass on Sunday, and they want to go and their parents won’t take them,” Paprocki said. 

“Growing up, [going to Mass] was just a given…it wasn’t even a question. It’s Sunday, and we go to Mass on Sunday, it’s just what we do. So I think if you can develop that habit and [your] children go to Mass on Sunday, that will be something that they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives.”

In their half-hour discussion, Barron and Paprocki also addressed the importance of open dialogue about faith within families, as well as the need to counter the misconception that science and faith are incompatible. 

“The Catholic Church is the great religion of ‘yes.’ It affirms life. God wants us fully alive and that includes every aspect of life,” Barron said. 

The full video podcast can be accessed here.