Fr. Joe Yokum, Parochial Vicar, Columbus St. Andrew,
Talks About his Second Year as a Priest

Evangelization

Fr. Joe Yokum evangelizes in everything that that he does daily, “from hospital calls to being the director of the RCIA.” He believes that there are many ways to share the faith every day whether, “with cradle Catholics, at the March for Life in Washington DC, or having a conversation with a secular humanist.” 

The Role of Breviary

“The Breviary (Divine Office) is what grounds me in my day.” Fr. Yokum depends on it throughout his day. He describes it as spiritual nourishment, “not just some activity I need to accomplish before my day is done.”

Indispensible Wisdom from Seminary

Fr. Yokum says that seminary taught his patience. “The atmosphere of the seminary, the living space, and the idiosyncrasies of 150 other guys could be quite annoying at times.  So you have to learn to be patient which is actually very helpful for me because I like things done NOW.”

Preaching

Fr. Yokum tries to spend a little time each day with the weekend readings and use them as a starting point for meditation each day. “Then I hope that I am inspired with something great to say the following weekend.”

Favorite Church Season to Preach

Fr. Yokum enjoys Ordinary Time the most; as he can focus in his homilies, get back to the basics and the “meat and potatoes of the faith.” 

“With the many “themed” weekends during the other seasons, Ordinary Time can be a time to step back and refocus.”

Advice for Engaged and Married Couples

“Talk to the priest immediately after the engagement and do what the priest asks of you!”

He also asks his couples to consider why they are coming to the priest for preparation and “What does your wedding in the Church mean to you?”   

Fr. Yokum explains that priests have the couples’ best interest in mind and they want to see couples succeed. “Remember that marriage preparation and the engagement is still part of the discernment process of whether or not God is calling you to marriage.”

Counseling

Fr. Yokum, like many parish priests, spends quite a bit of time counseling parishioners. 

“The seminary taught me to know my limits and I am knowledgeable about where to draw the line in the counseling session before I seek professional help for my people.  I have a great counseling group of good both Christian Catholic and non-Catholic counselors I send people to.  And generally we work together with the person.”

Fr. Yokum believes that the first call a young man has to consider when discerning a call to the priesthood is a desire for a celibate life.

He should ask himself, “Am I able to make the commitment to be celibate and give up the good of having someone to wake up with every morning?” In other words, “Can I live it?” 

“The reality is that we live in a fallen world and we are tempted on a constant basis, but we must strive in the midst of this temptation to practice the virtue of temperance in our relationships.”

Fr. Yokum explains that temperance is that moral virtue that protects our inclination from the onslaught of temptations related to sensuality. “God created all these good things in our life like food, drink and our sexuality; and these things are necessary for our self-preservation, but temperance is that virtue which makes it possible to have healthy relations with these things.”

He believes that this applies to married couple because in marriage the husband and wife should be able to say, “God has given me this person for the rest of my life to help me on my way to heaven and no other.” 

“Married couples need grace to stay faithful to their vows and so it is with the priesthood.”

 Fr. Yokum says that ordination does not take away one’s natural tendency toward the goods of marriage and temptation, but that practicing the virtue of temperance with God’s grace leads to serenity and a surrendering of our spirit and a desire to be chaste. 

“So is it difficult, YES, but God gives us what we need to be successful, we have to be willing to want to cooperate with God’s plan for us.”

Prayer

Fr. Yokum agrees that prayer is necessary to a balanced life in the priesthood.  “Prayer roots us in Christ and prepares us daily for the tasks ahead.”

Fr. Yokum’s prayer life includes the celebration of Mass every day; the Divine Office (which all ordained and those in the consecrated life have promised to pray); some of spiritual reading, and some devotion to the Blessed Mother (including the Rosary, the Angelus, or the Memorare). 

“The Divine Office is such a perfect way to sanctify the day especially with the daily celebration of the Eucharist.  It includes scripture, especially the psalms and daily spiritual reading in the Office of Readings usually from the Church Fathers.  It also includes something we all need to do to be successful –a nightly examination of conscience with Night Prayer so we can figure out where we messed up that day and we can strive to do better the next day.”

Fr. Yokum makes frequent confessions. “YES, even after ordination the priest goes to confession.  Jesus said even the just man sins seven times daily.  By humbly coming before God and confessing my sins to my brother priest, which is a humbling experience in itself, is one of the greatest boosts to my relationship with God.”