Fr. Joe Yokum, Priest, while Associate Pastor at St. Andrew Parsih
Reflecting on his Journey to the Priesthood and his First Year as a Priest

“Don’t be afraid to bug Father.”

Fr. Yokum, reflecting on his first year as a priest, comments that a misconception that many lay people have is that priests are too busy to talk.

“Priests are called to serve the people of God in our parish and in the diocese. So don’t be afraid to ask priests questions or ask for help. That is why we are here. I love it. I say ‘don’t be afraid to bug Father’. Priests want to share their faith.”

London, Ohio

Fr. Yokum grew up in London, Ohio and is the oldest of five siblings, with three brothers and one sister. His family has alwaysbeen very supportive of his vocation to the priesthood.

After graduating from London High School, Fr. Yokum attended OSU and majored in Respiratory Therapy. Near the end of college, Fr. Yokum began to discern a call to the priesthood. He also had a girlfriend of three and a half years.

Answering the Call

“During Vocations Awareness Week in our parish in London, Fr. Sill was giving a homily on the call of Nathanael. ‘Come follow me’ reverberated in my heart. Shortly afterward, I told my girlfriend that this is what God is calling me to do. I worked on devoting more time to prayer and began to receive spiritual direction.”

Receiving spiritual direction from a priest played an important role in helping Fr. Yokum discern the call to the priesthood. To have the wisdom and guidance from an experienced pastor, who was also a regular confessor, was an indispensable part of the process of discernment for Fr. Yokum.

After graduating from OSU, Fr. Yokum began working at Riverside Hospital as a Respiratory Therapist. He entered seminary at the Pontifical College Josephinum in 2001 where he studied Philosophy for two years. He then attended seminary at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland where he received a Masters in Divinity and a Masters in Theology and Church History.

Serving the People

In his first year as a priest, Fr. Yokum has become involved with many ministries in St. Andrew parish and in the Diocese of Columbus.

He is a chaplain at Riverside and OSU hospitals and also works with the Bethesda Healing Ministry. He assists with Engagement Encounter weekends and coordinates the RCIA program and Pre-Cana program for the parish. He teaches Marriage and Baptism classes and celebrates Mass at a nursing home in the parish, in addition to celebrating daily Mass.

Pastor and Parish Support

Fr. Yokum is grateful for the support and encouragement he receives from St. Andrew Pastor, Fr. Watson.

“A good pastor can make all the difference in an assignment for a new priest. Fr. Watson has helped in my transition to parish life as a new priest. He has been very supportive yet also offered me constructive criticism that has helped kept me grounded in my priesthood.”

When asked about his first year as a priest, Fr. Yokum describes it in one word, “awesome!”

“What a great experience. We have such as supportive staff and so many wonderful families at St. Andrew. I didn’t realize how busy I would be. There are so many exciting and rewarding things to do as a priest. One of the greatest challenges is to maintain an active prayer life.”

Dedicated to a Life of Prayer

Fr. Yokum has adopted Edith Stein’s view of prayer life where “You give God that first hour of your day and He gives you the power and strength to do what you need to do the rest of the day.”

Since his arrival at St. Andrew, Fr. Yokum helped institute an hour of Exposition between the 6:30 a.m. 8:30 a.m. weekday masses. That hour is a time that Fr. Yokum spends in prayer.

Diverse Ministries and Flexibility

When asked about what he likes best as a priest, Fr. Yokum describes the diversity of ministries.

“Every day is different. I like that. You never know what you will be asked to do, what the next phone call will bring. Sure it can be a challenge to balance everything. You are in a meeting and you get called to the hospital to give Last Rites. But I try to take it all in stride.”

Is the priesthood what he expected?

“I think I had a realistic view. Summer assignments during seminary give you some time in a parish to get a pretty good picture of the priesthood. As a priest, you have to adjust and go with the flow. You realize pretty quickly that you have to be adaptable and flexible.”

Relaxation with Priest Brothers

Fr. Yokum makes time for leisure and enjoys golf, hunting and fishing. He enjoys spending time with some priest friends, including Fr. Sill and Msgr. Meagher, his hunting and fishing buddies. Fr. Yokum also enjoys monthly priest support meetings
that include Frs. Yokum, Sill, Machnick, Hammond and Msgr. Meagher.

“It is nice to have priest support and friends you can depend on and relax with. When I go away on a hunting trip with my priest brothers, we relax together and pray together. Priests need other priests.”

Challenges

When asked about challenges in the first year, Fr. Yokum mentions the annulment process.

“The annulment process is challenging. I learned about it in seminary, but it is complex and so I depend on help from priests and others who are experts in this area to serve my parishioners.”

When talking about time away from the parish, Fr. Yokum says that parishioners are very generous and understand the need for time away for retreats and education. He just returned from a week-long conference at Creighton University on Pope Paul VI’s Institute, an internationally recognized program for its achievements in the field of natural fertility regulation and reproductive medicine.

Concelebrating Mass with the Pope

Fr. Yokum also had the opportunity to see concelebrate Mass with 1500 other priests at the National’s Stadium in Washington, DC recently.

“I was awe struck by being in Pope Benedict XVI’s presence. He is a compassionate and loving man who speaks to us with the wisdom and knowledge as the Vicar of Christ. The words of St. Peter hit me as I sat there with 1500 other priests concelebrating that Mass at the National’s Stadium in Washington, DC, ‘You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.’

“The Pope’s message of our hope being in Christ helped to reinvigorate my desire to grow in holiness and energize my priesthood. We have been so blessed by the Holy Spirit to have given us such a man as Pope Benedict to be our spiritual father here in this world.”

Joy for the Priesthood

Fr. Yokum enjoyed seminary, but is very happy to be serving in a parish.

“I enjoyed seminary, but my vocation is not seminary. I love being a priest. It is exciting to be here in the most intimate, stressful and joyous moments of parishioners’ lives. Administering the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Baptism, and Marriage and being there at all the stages of people’s lives.”

Fr. Yokum would describe himself as “joyful” about the priesthood and for many reasons.

“I had the privilege of baptizing my Dad Catholic this past Easter. He had thought about joining the church for a long time. After my ordination he said he was ready. That is just one example of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.”