Welcome Fr. Barry Cuba!

Rev. Barry William Cuba (pronounced COO-buh) is the new parochial vicar at St. Theresa. He wrote this note to introduce himself to the parish.

Hi, St. Theresa!

I am really looking forward to getting to know this great community and assisting the team and Fr. Larry in any way I can as a parochial vicar to be of service to each of you.

You'd probably like to know a little about me:

I was born in Austin, Texas and attended James Bowie High School. While in high school I worked in various positions in sales and operations at H.E.B. Grocery. That was going to be my career, however, I couldn't get the priesthood out of my mind. The idea of being a priest was a gentle tug at my heart that wouldn't go away. So, after high school, I entered Holy Trinity Seminary and completed undergraduate studies at the University of Dallas followed by graduate studies at St. Mary's Seminary in Houston and the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. I was ordained a priest on June 8, 2013.

Before ordination as a priest, I served as an officer in the Navy Reserve. Some of my past ministry assignments include: Naval Station Newport, RI, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, the VA Medical Center in Houston as a hospital chaplain. As a priest: St. Mary's Catholic Center at Texas A&M University, San José in Austin, St. Margaret Mary in Cedar Park, Emmaus in Lakeway, and St. Monica in Cameron, TX.

I enjoy walking out in nature, golfing, and reading. My style of ministry is to try to be the best resource as possible for the laity to live out their lives as Christians in a world filled with demands and distractions.

I aim to be a parochial vicar in the true sense of the expression. The Church defines a parochial vicar as a priest "who serves in pastoral ministry as co-worker with the pastor in common counsel and endeavors with him and also under his authority." My best years as a priest have been when I've worked in parishes with a strong mission, great teams, and under a pastor whom I deeply respect and admire. So, let's just say I'm super excited (I sometimes say "happy-nervous"), to serve in a role to which I feel deeply committed and find great joy. When the community is successful, and the faith is alive, and the laity are aware of the amazing power the sacraments grant them as fuel and how to tap into that, I feel that sense of meaning and purpose that I think we all, deep down, desire in our lives.

Fr. Barry William Cuba

And we are super excited to welcome Fr. Cuba to St. Theresa!  There will be a welcome reception in the Family Center July 10 following the 9 a.m. Mass.