SAN ANTONIO
Jordan McMorrough, Director of Communications
Archdiocese of San Antonio

 The annual Knights of Columbus Texas State Council College Conference gathered students across the Lone Star State in spiritual formation, fellowship, and
guidance toward becoming Catholic leaders at the St. Mary’s University Albert B. Alkek Building March 20-21.
 About 50 Knights attended, representing St. Mary’s, the University of the Incarnate Word, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas Tech University, Lamar University, and Texas A&M University in Kingsville.
 Workshops and panel discussions were offered on vocation discernment, council operations and best practices, and patriotism and faith, along with other topics. Speakers at the gathering included seminarians from Assumption Seminary in San Antonio; Deacon Scott Sowell from St. Matthew Church in San Antonio; San Antonio Auxiliary Bishop Gary Janak; Father Ed Hauf, OMI; and Father John Thompson, vice president for Mission at St. Mary’s.
 San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, was celebrant of the closing Mass at Annunciation Chapel, and elaborated on the Gospel reading from John in his homily to the young men. “Brothers, there is a stone in front of every tomb. You know the one I mean -- not just the stone that sealed Lazarus’ grave in Bethany, but the stone each one of us carries within,” he acknowledged. “The stone of the doubt that crept in somewhere between high school faith and college life. The stone of the sin you believe is too old to move. The stone of the question you are afraid to ask God: Are you still here?”
 Archbishop Gustavo recounted that in the Gospel Jesus asked Martha, “Do you believe?” The Lord, he emphasized to listeners, asks everyone that same question – not in a classroom, not on an exam, but here and now, with each life as the answer. “You did not come to this conference simply to feel inspired and return to campus
unchanged. You came because the Church needs you to move stones -- on your campus, among your peers, in your family,” stressed the San Antonio shepherd. “The works of mercy you are being called to practice, the Catholic fraternity you are here to build -- these are not mere programs. They are your hands on the stone.” Pope Leo XIV has stated: “God gives the world a new life: his own, offered for all.” Gesturing to the altar, the archbishop described how the stone is moved again, saying, “The bread broken here is not a symbol of life -- it is life itself, the body of the Risen One made one with your body, so that you carry the Resurrection out these doors and onto every campus across Texas: into dorm rooms, associations, quiet places where a fellow student sits alone wondering if anyone sees them.”
 He then offered a final challenge to the Knights leaders: “Go, then. Roll away whatever stone is keeping someone -- or yourself -- from hearing their name called.”