Funeral Homily: William J. Baum, June 8, 2023

-

 The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.

The soul of Bill is in the hand of God, no torment shall touch him.

We are here to bid our final farewell to Bill, our beloved brother, grandpa, dad, husband, friend. I feel privileged to have known Bill these last two years and honored to preside over this Mass for his sending off.

Many of you would have known him much longer and much better than I. I wish I had more time with him. I was awed when I read his obituary, his life story is inspirational. I know from my encounter with him that he was a dedicated husband, a loving and caring father, the greatest fan to every one of his grandchildren, and an incredible friend to countless people here and around the world.

His going would surely leave a void in our lives. It is only natural that we grieve this loss.

Bill was a man of remarkable character. His love for life, his sense of humor, and his thoughtfulness for others were the hallmarks of his personality. The memories of Bill are imprinted in our hearts, which I am sure the recall will still bring a smile, a warm feeling and even laughter.

When I first met Bill and Marge, I was so very moved by their sweet and unwavering love for each other. I was told that Bill would often bring back ornaments and precious diamonds from his business trips for Marge.

This made me reflect on the gospel passage about the merchant who searched and found the precious pearl. Marge, looks like Bill never found anything more precious than you all these 64 years. And your love for each other radiates through to your entire family, to everyone who encountered you both.

While Bill traveled the world, dealing with precious stones, diamonds, and pearls in his business, he was also searching earnestly for the kingdom of Heaven. In just two years of my serving at St. Ambrose, I remember Bill had come to me for the sacrament of reconciliation almost every month. He was diligently preparing himself for heaven. Even during his illness, he would not take his medication until he had completed his prayers. His commitment to his spiritual life was steadfast, his heart and mind were set for eternal life.

We heard in the first reading, "Because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings, he took them to himself."

Recently before his passing, Bill went through various medical challenges. Through those sufferings, God tried and found Bill worthy of Himself and took him.

When I gave Bill the anointing of the sick and Holy Communion on Friday, I had a wonderful heartwarming conversation with him and family. I am at peace that he received the sacrament of god’s healing, forgiveness and mercy. 

To the family, the memories you shared with Bill are like precious pearls that will forever adorn the necklace of your lives. 

As you embark on the journey of healing, may you find comfort in knowing that Bill is not away, but gone to God, and because he is now with God, he is much closer to you than you can ever imagine.

As we mourn, let us also celebrate. Bill has gone to receive his eternal reward. Let us keep his spirit of love, passion and selfless giving alive, carrying it forward in our own lives as a testament to the beautiful legacy he leaves behind.

In closing, let us remember the words of Jesus in the gospel, "The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it."

Bill found that pearl of great price in his faith, he now owns it forever. May you also find this precious pearl in your own life. May God’s comforting love embrace each and every one of you during this time of mourning.

Eternal rest grant unto William J. Baum, O Lord and let your perpetual light shine on him. Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Read

Homily: December, 22,2024, Fourth Sunday in Advent (Mother- Peace)

-
 "His greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth; he shall be peace." The prophecy of Micah proclaimed 700 years before the birth of Jesus, had already foretold the extent and essence of our Lord’s greatness – it shall reach to the ends of the earth, and He shall be peace. Now 2,700 years later, Christianity has indeed spread to every corner of the world and for everyone who truly knows and follows Christ, will experience His peace. Here we are, celebrating the Fourth Sunday of Advent, just days away from Christmas, are you at peace? Almost every society throughout the world is celebrating Christmas, albeit with commercial overtones, but is there peace around the world? During this holiday season, in the confessionals and from conversations, I hear the same issues brought up - stress, worries, anxieties about the preparations, the family gatherings, the expectations. Shopping, cleaning the house, buying and wrapping gifts, writing cards, getting new clothes - all these ta...
Read more

Homily: December 23, 2024 Monday of the Fourth Week in Advent (Purification)

-
 "He will purify the sons of Levi, refining them like gold or like silver, that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD." There are usually five steps to refine gold or silver. The very first step is to melt it in a hot furnace, then the molten gold is cast into molds to separate it from base metals and other impurities. It is further refined through electrolysis and other refining processes. Today’s first reading tells us God will purify His people like refining gold. Isn’t it a lot of hard work for God the refiner and such painful process for us, the refined? Yes, but it is so that we will all shine bright and flawless. Yesterday, after Sunday Mass, I was standing near the baptismal font, talking to a parishioner who informed me that Afaf Bakal, a Sudanese parishioner, had just passed away. Two years ago, I baptized her at that very same font and administered her Confirmation and First Communion. I remember her baptism vividly because she was already very weak at the time....
Read more

Homily: December 24, 2024, Christmas Mass (Swaddling clothes )

-
"She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger..." This Gospel scene brings me back to one special day when I was in grade eight. My eldest sister was back at home from college for summer vacation. The rest of my family were out of the house for a parish event, and so it was just the two of us at home. Before leaving the house, my mother had pre-empted us that one of our she-goats on the farm was ready to give birth, although she did think it might happen in a few more days. However, shortly after my parents and other siblings left the house, the she-goat or doe went into labor and gave birth to three babies: two males, one female. The baby doeling was very weak and looked unhealthy, my sister and I did not know what to do. So we called our grandmother on the phone, and she explained to us how to take care of the newborn kids. Following her instructions, we used iodine to treat the navel cords to prevent infection, cleaned up the birth site, made a nice bed of...
Read more

Homily: September 27, 2022, Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time (Memorial of of St. Vincent de Paul)

-
“Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. Job spoke out and said: Perish the day on which I was born, the night when they said, “The child is a boy!”  Job was so upset that he wished he was never born! I can fully understand how Job felt. He had been faithful, he had lived right but he had lost everything in his life, including his own health. He had nothing left. He had every reason to curse, to complaint. Recently I visited a mom whose son took his own life. She was lamenting and crying her heart out to God. She cursed her life, complained to God and questioned Him why He allowed this tragedy to happen. In my own troubled moments when nothing is going right, I too wonder, “Why did God create me?” Why send me to this world to go through hardship then bring me back again? He could have just kept me in heaven. When everything go wrong, won’t we also think that life is meaningless? Even though I don’t have the perfect explanation, I find my consolation in the cross of Christ, looking...
Read more

Homily: August 30,2023, Wednesday of the twentyfirst sunday in Ordinary time (Holy Anger)

-
Preached at Holy Family Catholic School Des Moines.   "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth.” Wow. Did Jesus really say these harsh words? He seems very angry. Why?  Since I was little, till now, I have been fearful of aggressive people. I would usually steer clear of them. If Jesus were to say those words to me angrily, I would have tried to keep a distance from Him. But Jesus’ anger is always reasonable. My mom used to get very angry with me too, because I was very mischievous and created lots of trouble. Although she was very frightening in those moments and I would always run far away from her, I would also always return, because I knew she would calm down. I knew she loved me. We know that Jesus is the most compassionate and loving person. He could forgive the worst sinners and showed gentle kindness towards them. He fed,...
Read more

Homily: September 10, 2024, Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time (Deception).

-
 “Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.” In Christian theology, there is something known as the Last Things, which are namely these four: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell. Death is the event at the end of this life when our mortal body is separated from our immortal soul. At that moment of death, each person is judged by God based on our faith and conduct in this life, and our soul will either be rewarded or punished. The reward is heaven, eternal bliss and joy when we come face to face with God, our Creator. Some will go through purgatory, a temporary state of purification in preparation for heaven. The punishment is hell, eternal torment and condemnation for our rejection of God. Heaven is real. Hell is also real. Once, during a talk for priests, the speaker asked us, “When was the last time you preached about eternal punishment?” I tried to think of a recent homily or message where I spoke about it, and there was none. I realised ...
Read more

Homily: June 6, 2024, Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time.

-
“Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory.” Before Paul was converted, he was enjoying success, recognition, authority and power as a Christian persecutor. But when he encountered Jesus and began to love the Lord and His sheep with all his heart, all his understanding, and all his strength, the sufferings also began to come to him, and he had to ‘bear with everything’. We all suffer in one way or another. We all have our own crosses to carry, but it is important to know whether we are carrying a cross because of salvation or because of our own wrong actions. There is an effect to every cause, and a consequence to every action. The consequence of wrong decisions, foolish actions, prideful deeds, selfish greed, over-ambitious endeavor, unhealthy relationships, financial mismanagement, and addictive habits is suffering. And these are self-inflicted sufferings, they...
Read more

Homily: November 10, 2023, Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time (End of World)

-
 "Those who have never been told of Him shall see, and those who have never heard of Him shall understand."  While the Apostles went around preaching to the Jews, Paul was preaching to the Gentiles, because he wanted to reach ‘those who have never been told of Him’ and ‘those who have never heard of Him’. Yesterday, during our priest study day, our speaker Fr. Patrick Mary said that we are living in a post-Christendom era. Evangelizing the Gentiles and pagans in the early days were about shifting their belief in pagan gods to the one true God. But today, we are dealing with people who believe in nothing, it is a bigger challenge. They have been told of Him, but do not believe. They have heard of Him but refuse to understand. How do we shake and wake people up to the truth? When I was in middle school, there were Jehovah's Witnesses in our small town, and they distributed flyers everywhere proclaiming that the world was going to end. They warned people that for them to be ...
Read more

Homily: October 9, 2022, Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

-
 “Please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth, for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the LORD." When Naaman was first told to wash himself in the waters of the Jordan, he felt ridiculed, he did not believe. But after he did and was healed, he declared that he would no longer worship any other god except the God of Israel. What a beautiful story of conversion. But why did he want to take back two mule-loads of earth? He was healed after washing in the river water. Shouldn’t he take back some of that water instead of soil from the earth? Well, if he believed the waters healed him, then yes, he would have taken tonnes of the water. But Naaman recognised that the source of healing was the God of Israel. He knew he was healed by God, not the water. In ancient times, it was believed that gods could only be worshipped on the soil of their land. Thus, Naaman asked for the soil of Israel because he wanted to worship the God of Israel bac...
Read more

Homily: Septtember 24, 2024, Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time (act on it. )

-
“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” During Jesus’ public ministry, He had hundreds, if not thousands, of followers. He was very popular, his fame spread far and wide. Many people followed Him for various reasons - some wanted to witness His miracles, others to did not want to be left out of the happenings, and many wanted to be healed and cured by Jesus. One other key reason was His preaching. The simplicity, yet often intriguing and intellectually provoking, and the power of His messages, attracted and moved countless listeners who wanted to hear more from Him. Even today, we see dynamic preachers and Catholic speakers who would also attract large crowds. Many people, including myself, admire and would follow some well-known speakers so that we do not miss their talks or preachings. It is very uplifting and edifying to listen to such talks. But truly, does Jesus want us to just listen to Him and follow His talks so that we can feel intellectua...
Read more