Reflections of a Simple Priest

There comes a point in everyone's life when we have to realize the power of the word no.  It's a powerful word when you really think about it.  The ability to say no is the very thing that enables us to set up boundaries in our lives.  It's the thing that allows us to actually say yes.  When we are about to say no to one thing, we can truly dedicate ourselves to something else.  For many of us, we often struggle with that word.  We find ourselves pressured into doing things we really don't want to do because we're nice, because we can't say no to people. I remember a skit that we always used to do with the kids that illustrated the point perfectly.  A boy was standing next to Jesus and said to Jesus, you're my number one, I love you and I want to give you my all.  Then, we see his teacher, who says.  You have an exam coming up…you really need to study.  The boy says, "Hold on Jesus, I'll be right back, I need to study.  Along came...

One of the things about Johnstown, as I know we're all aware is that there simply aren't a whole lot of Jobs here.  As our kids grow up.  Often, they move away to find work.  Sometimes they'll come back to visit, but their life is elsewhere.  It's a funny thing about human nature when they actually do come back.  I know we've all see it happen.  They come back and they can't possibly have done anything good, they're from here, don't you know… I've worked our diocesan youth camp, Camp Zacchaeus 14 years now, and I had the same experience not too long ago, when I went to the eye doctor and realized…one of the little campers I had that first year or two…was now my eye doctor…  I'll admit I caught myself going…"ok, this is strange" and sometimes we mistrust that…after all, what could this kid possibly know? Or how about the guy who runs for office, gets elected, and returns home to hear, Just who does he think he is?….All tho...

Well folks, August has arrived.  This past year I had the opportunity to teach Morality to Seniors at Bishop McCort, and well, as I'm sure you can imagine it was quite the experience.  Still though, I got to know a number of the kids, and now is a very scary time of year for them.  Very soon, many of them will leave home for the first time, move into a dorm, and in a real way, be on their own. I'm sure if we search through our own lives, most of us remember moving into that first dorm, first apartment, or that first house, walking in the door, looking at the room and saying….my God, what did I get myself into….I'm really on my own now…. Most of us have had that experience at one point or another, beginning a new phase of life, not sure if we're ready, but yet, moving on because well, we'd made our decision and now we've got to make it work somehow.  If we keep that feeling in mind, it might give us just some small inkling of the experience the Isr...

There's something about food that's simply universal. It's something that all of us need to survive, yet it's about so much more than survival. When we gather to eat, there has always been something special about a family meal. It's a celebration. Think of all the various important moments we have that surround meals. A couple goes on a date and begins with dinner. Two friends meet up for lunch. A family sits down at the dinner-table to spend time together. Friends gather around a bonfire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. When we have a party, we always think of having a dinner. At a Wedding, a Funeral, a Baptism, we always have a luncheon or a reception with food. At holiday time, for every family, the holiday meal is always a special moment for the family to gather together. Nearly every society has a special holiday that focuses specifically on food. In America, we call that holiday thanksgiving…. the whole history of the day is centered around th...

Sorry Folks!  No Homilies at Church this week, Our Parish Festival is this weekend...so it's our tradition not to give a homily.  If you're in range of Johnstown, please stop out to St. Benedict's this weekend for a good 'ol fashioned parish reunion. If you still want one, here's a homily for this weekend from the Archives...(2009 to be exact)

One of the biggest complaints we always hear about teenagers is that they never listen to their elders. Even if perhaps I'm not so certain the stereotype is all that correct, we all assume that teens will listen to whatever their peers have to say long before they listen to anyone else. As we grow into adulthood though, isn't is amazing how our focus shifts. Now, we believe things whenever we are told by an expert. Aren't we always perfectly ready to accept things as they are….just because that's what we heard on TV. Then, when we hear the story from an actual person, especially someone we know, especially a peer…all too often, we're far more ready to believe the expert, than we ever are to believe someone we know. Just simply ask yourself, what mother hasn't purchased the famous book, "What to expect when you're expecting" and then ask yourself...when things conflict, do you listen to your own mother and friends who have been through it….or ...

Two hundred and thirty nine years ago today, there were a group 56 of men who stood around a desk, about 200 miles east of here in Philadelphia. Together, they recognized the injustices that were being done to those around them. Those men could have set back and given in. Many of them were wealthy. Many were born into privilege, and if they has simply struck a deal, most of them could have led very comfortable lives. Yet, they believed in something that was much more important than comfort. They believed in principles of freedom, principles that they would use to build a nation. Those men really didn't amount to much. Compared to the British of the time, they were hardly a blip on the radar, a nasty pest. They had no real chance of defeating the British army. There was a real possibility that each of them would lose everything, end up in prison or worse. Yet, even so, they decided to sign the document that was sitting in front of them. They decided to sign that Declarat...

Well folks, it's been a long time.  After a year, here at St. Benedict's, I'm finally starting to get back into some sort of normalcy. (whatever that looks like for a diocesan priest)  With that in mind, I'm going to try to get this up and running again. It's a good thing, and there's been so much going on in the world in the last year or so, that I'd like to add my voice.  I'd like to think I try to listen to others, to be caring, yet firm.  I'll admit that I still have much to learn, though I'd be a bit suspicion of anyone who didn't think they had a good deal yet to learn. In my doings, I finally broke down to buy a domain.  They're cheap now, and it makes for an easy place to post things that won't move around quite so much.  While I might change the content here, at least the page will remain.  For now it's http://homilies.frbaum.com As I post here, I don't hope to have all the answers, but I hope that by adding a voi...