St. Paul urges us to “have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.”  Many of us are experts in prayers of petition, but how about thanksgiving?  Two remarkable men who suffered greatly illustrate for us the power of thanksgiving in the darkest of places.

This was a homily preached at the 7:00 p.m. anticipatory Mass on the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation of the University of Dallas.

Readings (Year A):

Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:9, 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20
Philippians 4:6-9
Matthew 21:33-43

Prayer: Petition and Giving Thanks (Oct. 3, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 12:05 p.m. Mass on Saturday in the 31st week in Ordinary Time (on the Feast of All Saints of the Order of Preachers) at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle II:

Philippians 4:10-19 
Psalm 112:1b-2, 5-6, 8a and 9 
Luke 16:9-15

The Angst of Finitude and the Order of Preachers (Nov. 7, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 7:00 p.m. Mass on the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings (Year A):

Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 
Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 
Matthew 25:14-30

Photo: from James Tissot, ca. 1900, Moses and Joshua bowing before the Ark

Grace: Given and Shared (Nov. 15, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 10:00 a.m. Mass on Thanksgiving Day at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings: 

Is 63:7-9
Ephesians 1:3-14 
Mark 5:8-10

Photo: from (Getty/Salon)

Gratitude and Charity (Nov. 26, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 5:00 p.m. anticipatory Mass on the First Sunday of Advent at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings (Year B):

Isaiah 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 
Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 
1 Corinthians 1:3-9 
Mark 13:33-37

Photo: From tableatny on Flickr

Preparing and Waiting (Nov. 28, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 12:05 p.m. Mass on Tuesday in the 1st Week of Advent at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle I:

Isaiah 11:1-10 
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 
Luke 10:21-24

Photo: By @Selflicky at Redbubble

I Understood that Reference! (Dec. 1, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 12:05 p.m. Mass on Friday in the 1st Week of Advent at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle I:

Isaiah 29:17-24
Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14 
Matthew 9:27-31

Changed by the Word (Dec. 4, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 12:05 p.m. Mass on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings:

Genesis 3:9-15, 20 
Psalm 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4 
Ephesians  1:3-6, 11-12 
Luke 1:26-38

Photo: Claudio Coello, The Triumph of Saint Augustine, 1664, The Museo del Prado

Bring Forth Christ (Dec. 8, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 12:05 p.m. Mass on Friday in the 2nd Week of Advent at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle I:

Isaiah 48:17-19
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 
Matthew 11:16-19

The Contradictions of a Hardened Heart (Dec. 11, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 5:00 p.m. anticipatory Mass on the Third Sunday of Advent at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings (Year B):

Isaiah 61:1-2a, 10-11 
Luke 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 
John 1:6-8, 19-28

Your Desire Is Your Prayer (Dec. 12, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 12:05 p.m. Mass on December 18 at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle I:

Jeremiah 23:5-8
Psalm 72:1-2, 12-13, 18-19 
Matthew 1:18-25

Photo: from Getty Images/iStockphoto

O Adonai (Dec. 18, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 11:00 a.m. Mass on the Fourth Sunday of Advent at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings (Year B):

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 
Psalm 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29 
Romans 16:25-27 
Luke 1:26-38 

Photo: From HotelDuomoSiena on Flickr

The Temple of the Living God (Dec. 20, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 12:05 p.m. Mass on December 22 at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle I:

1 Samuel 1:24-28
1 Samuel 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd
 Luke 1:46-56

Photo: Copyright BBC

O Rex Gentium (Dec. 22, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 10:00 p.m. Mass on Christmas Eve at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for the Mass at Night:

Isaiah 9:1-6
Psalm 96: 1-2, 2-3, 11-12, 13
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14 

Photo: Josefa de Ayala, The Sacrificial Lamb, ca. 1670-1684, The Walters Art Museum

Darkness During Christmas (Dec. 24, 2020)

This was a homily preached at the 11:00 a.m. Mass on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings (Year B):

Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 
Psalm 128:1-2,3, 4-5 
Colossians 3:12-21 
Luke 2:22-40

Photo: Aristides Artal, El Taller de José, Iglesia del Señor San José, Sevilla

Those Nearest Us (Dec. 27, 2020)

The campus of our university is being filled again with students: many are excited to see friends and professors, and the new freshman class are taking their first steps in an education in goodness, truth, and beauty.  However, the revelation of evil crimes done by priests and bishops cannot be ignored.  Does our faith have anything to offer in this time of anger, sadness, and grief?

This was a homily given for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the 9:00 a.m. Mass.

Readings for Year B:

Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58

The Scandal of Clerical Betrayal (August 20, 2018)

Another week seems to have brought another cascade of reasons to be discouraged in the leadership in the Catholic Church: continued doubt, scandal, questions about the trustworthiness, lack of urgency or resolve of bishops and the Vatican.  This week's Gospel is timely, as are the words of St. Augustine of Hippo and his teacher, St. Ambrose of Milan: church leaders fall away in times of tribulation, but God *never* fails to raise up saints who bear the greater power and majesty of the Son of God.

This was a homily given for the Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the 11:00 a.m. Mass.

Readings for Year B:

Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11
Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Mark 13:24-32

The Stars that Fall and the Star that Endures (November 18, 2018)

Often, the more precious a gift, the more we protect it or hide it away.  While this is justified for some things, love, the most precious gift, increases when we share it.  A medieval maxim, bonum diffusivum sui est (goodness is self-diffusive), reminds us the gift of baptism is meant to shape our words and actions and invite others to encounter the grace of God.

This was a homily given for the Baptism of the Lord at St. Patrick Cathedral in El Paso, Texas, at the 7:00 a.m. Mass.

Readings for the Mass:

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Psalm 104:1b-2, 3-4, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30
Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7
Luke 3:15-16, 21-22

Bonum Diffusivum Sui Est (January 13, 2019)

Anyone new to the extraordinary form of the Mass (including myself), will find many things very different and strange.  One of the most notable elements is the detail and precision of the gestures of the priest.  Viewed with one paradigm, these liturgical details can help us remember what we easily forget: love God and love neighbor.

In the weeks leading up to the celebration of a low Mass in the Dominican Rite, I will be incorporating catechesis in my homilies about the extraordinary form of the Mass in general and the Dominican Rite in particular.

This was a homily given for Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the 5:00 p.m. Mass.

Readings for Cycle I:

Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10
Psalm 29:1a and 2, 3ac-4, 3b and 9c-10
Mark 8:14-21

Details, Details (February 19, 2019)

Liturgical silence is a sacred expression of a truth that our parents [may have] tried to teach us: be patient.  More than simple waiting, liturgical silence (and patience) can help us move out of ourselves and draw closer to God and our neighbor.

In the weeks leading up to (and during) the celebration of a low Mass in the Dominican Rite, I will be incorporating catechesis in my homilies about the extraordinary form of the Mass in general and the Dominican Rite in particular.

This was a homily given for Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the 5:00 p.m. Mass.

Readings for Cycle I:

Sirach 2:1-11
Psalm 37:3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40
Mark 9:30-37

Picture is by Alessandra Tarantino, Associated Press (https://bit.ly/2HPtyxT)

The Patience of Silence (February 26, 2019)

In small ways, hope gives us the ability to move through our lives, e.g., when we go to sleep, that there will be another day.  One of the marks of adolescence is realizing that many things we assumed as children to be immovable are transitory.  Far from being a reason against Christian Hope, the transitory nature of all things can reveal to us the great power of Hope.

This was a homily preached on the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed at the Church of the Incarnation at the 12:05 p.m. Mass.

Readings:

Wisdom 3:1-9
 Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
 Romans 5:5-11
John 6:37-40

Hope: The Divinization of Human Stubborness (The Faithful Departed, November 2, 2019)

All of us have things and people that we turn to for strength and comfort, e.g., music, art, nature, our physical strength, our intelligence, etc.  Good as all these are, we know that all these are finite.  They end.  When “left a stone upon another stone,” what keeps us alive?  What keeps us going?

This was a homily preached on the Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the 7:00 p.m. Mass.

Readings:

Malachi 3:19-20a
 Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9
 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
Luke 21:5-19

The good That Decays and The Good That Endures (November 17, 2019)

This is our king who refuses to save himself: “To men are possessed by deceit and hatred and who bring to bear on him all their power to inflict death, the beloved son offers no violence, which again, is a power to inflict death.  He does not want the death of the sinner.  On the contrary, he wants the sinner to live.  That is why he does not attack men, but only the death whose prisoners they are.”
(from “Wellspring of Worship,” by Fr. Jean Corbon, O.P.)

This was a homily preached on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe at the Church of the Incarnation at the 11:00 a.m. Mass.

Readings:

2 Samuel 5:1-3
 Psalm 122:1-2,3-4, 4-5
 Colossians 1:12-20
Luke 23:35-43

I Will Never Give Up On You (November 24, 2019)

When Catholics look at people who have “found Jesus,” we may think “Show, don’t tell.”  Fair enough - do we apply the same rigor to our own actions, or do we make excuses for ourselves?

This was a homily preached on the Second Sunday of Advent at the Church of the Incarnation at the 11:00 a.m. Mass.

Readings for Year A:

Isaiah 11:1-10
 Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17
 Romans 15:4-9
Matthew 3:1-12

"Show, Don't Tell" Isn't Just for New Converts (December 8, 2019)

One of the most important needs of children and teenagers is to know they are loved: this knowledge (or the tragic absence of it) shapes the rest of our lives.  The words of the Father, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” are not only spoken about Jesus: just as we share in the baptism of Christ, we also share in hearing those words of the Father.

This was a homily preached on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord at the Church of the Incarnation at the 5:00 p.m. Mass.

Readings for Year A:

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
 Acts of the Apostles 10:34-38
Matthew 3:13-17

Remember That You Are the Beloved of the Father (Jan. 11, 2020)

Holy Communion is *not* only the Holy Eucharist.  If you currently aren’t able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, these days can be a way to deepen your faith and communion with the Lord.  What can St. Peter’s preaching to the Jews tell us about deepening our communion with God?


This was a homily preached on Tuesday of the Octave of Easter at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings:

Acts of the Apostles 2:36-41
Psalm 33:4-5, 18-19, 20 & 22
John 20:11-18

Photo: St. Peter Preaching in the Presence of St. Mary, by Fra Angelico

Holy Eucharist & Holy Communion: Preaching (Apr. 14, 2020)

One of the beautiful aspects of the two disciples walking to Emmaus is how Jesus worked to kindle the flame in their hearts.  Their minds weren’t instantly illuminated with a ray of divine knowledge!  Jesus spoke with them, called on their memory, asked questions, and walked with them.  What can this tell us about stoking the small flame of faith into a blaze that ignites our hearts?


This was a homily preached on the Third Sunday of Easter at the Church of the Incarnation of the University of Dallas.

Readings (Year A):

Acts of the Apostles 2:14, 22-33
Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
1 Peter 1:17-21
Luke 24:13-35

Photo of Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, from: https://frassatiusa.org/verso-lalto

Verso l’alto oggi!  Seek the Heights of Charity Today! (Apr. 26, 2020)

Who is God?  Lest we think that returning to basics is a waste of time, reflecting on God’s omnipotence and goodness can be a source of great comfort when we are in times of trial. 


This was a homily preached on Tuesday in the 13th Week of Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle II:

Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12
Psalm 5:4b-6a, 6b-7, 8
Matthew 8:23-27

Photo: Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee (1633), Painting by Rembrandt van Rijn

Save Us, Lord - Thy Will Be Done (June 30, 2020)

Reading the passage for today’s Mass from Amos, did it set off some bells in your memory?  If you’re an American or have studied American history, it should. 


This was a homily preached on Wednesday in the 13th Week of Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle II:

Amos 5:14-15, 21-24
Psalm 50:7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 16bc-17
Matthew 8:28-34


Photo credit: Getty Images

The Justice of Unity & Injustice of Division (July 1, 2020)

“Home.”  It’s meant to be a safe place, a place where we can be vulnerable, where we can trust, love and be loved.  As Christians, we are called not only to journey to our lasting home in Heaven, but to share with others that love of being home. 


This was a homily preached on Thursday in the 13th Week of Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle II:

Amos 7:10-17
Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11
Matthew 9:1-8


Photo: from "Stranger Things" copyright: Netflix Streaming Services

Home (July 2, 2020)

“Take my yoke upon you… for my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”  Do we believe Christ?  When we hesitate and refuse to let Him into any part of our lives, are we not calling Him a liar?


This was a homily preached on the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation of the University of Dallas.

Readings (Year A):

Zechariah 9:9-10
Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
Romans 8:9, 11-13
Matthew 11:25-30


Photo: painting by Julius Sergius Von Klever, "Christ Walking on the Waters"

We Do Not Bear Grace, Grace Bears Us (July 5, 2020)

As Christians, we rightly turn to prayer when we see a need.  However, we should not be surprised when God summons us to be part of His answer! 


This was a homily preached on Tuesday in the 14th Week of Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle II:

Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13
Psalm 115:3-4, 5-6, 7ab-8, 9-10
Matthew 9:32-38


Photo: copyright Samantha Goff | Johnson Publications

Ready to Be Sent (July 7, 2020)

One point of Catholic pride is “Apostolic Succession,” or the connection that we have through our bishops to the Twelve Apostles.  Like other public figures, we can easily badmouth our bishop - whoever he may be - because we disagree with him.  In our moments of frustration, Jesus’ choice of the twelve men reminds us that God works through His creation. 


This was a homily preached on Wednesday in the 14th Week of Ordinary Time at the Church of the Incarnation at the University of Dallas.

Readings for Cycle II:

Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12
Psalm 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Matthew 10:1-7


Photo: copyright The Dallas Morning News, Jae S. Lee / Staff Photographer

Pray for Your Bishop (July 8, 2020)

Dominican friar, Catholic priest, pastoral vicar of Holy Rosary Church. 
3/1/24 update: We're back!  Plan to be caught up by Easter!

Fr. Thomas More Barba, O.P.

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