{"id":110639,"date":"2026-08-13T10:51:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T17:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=110639"},"modified":"2026-08-13T10:52:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T17:52:27","slug":"requiescat-in-pace-rev-kenneth-baker-s-j","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/requiescat-in-pace-rev-kenneth-baker-s-j\/","title":{"rendered":"Requiescat in Pace \u2014 Rev. Kenneth Baker, S.J."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span class=\"wpsdc-drop-cap\">A<\/span> Requiem Mass will be offered for Rev. Kenneth Baker, S.J. tomorrow morning, Friday, August 14, at 8:00 AM at Saint Joseph Church in Tacoma. For a few brief months in 2011, he was our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/sanctification\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interim pastor<\/a> at Saint Rita Parish. When he celebrated his first Mass with us on the Solemnity of the Most\u00a0Sacred Heart\u00a0of Jesus, he began his homily by confiding that it was the first time he&#8217;d celebrated the Mass in a language other than Latin in perhaps twenty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I found him to be a kind pastor and a brilliant intellect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rev. Kenneth Baker, S.J., entered the Society of Jesus in 1947. He studied theology at the University of Innsbruck, Austria and was ordained there in 1960. He taught philosophy and theology at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington from 1961 to 1978. In 1970 he briefly served as president of Seattle University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was editor of the Homiletic &amp; Pastoral Review from 1971 to 2010 and, as editor emeritus, he continued to write for the magazine. In 1975, he became president of Catholic Views Broadcasts, Inc., which produced a weekly 15-minute radio program that aired on 50 stations across the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was the author of numerous books, including the monumental three-volume catechism\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/stores\/S.J.-Kenneth-Baker\/author\/B001KMDXME\/allbooks?ccs_id=6e70d3a0-e058-40eb-9d5f-8ac74d138319\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fundamentals of Catholicism<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(Ignatius Press, 1982).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although he was a Jesuit priest, he worked with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter for decades, first in New Jersey and then in Washington State. He was instrumental in establishing the celebration of the Vetus Ordo in Tacoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Father Baker passed to God on the feast of the Transfiguration, at the age of 96.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Requiem Mass will be offered for Rev. Kenneth Baker, S.J. tomorrow morning, Friday, August 14, at 8:00 AM at Saint Joseph Church in Tacoma. For a few brief months in 2011, he was our interim pastor at Saint Rita Parish. When he celebrated his first Mass with us on the Solemnity of the Most\u00a0Sacred Heart\u00a0of Jesus, he began his [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110640,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-moments-in-time","category-rev-kenneth-baker"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-sMv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1154,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-pastor-for-the-interim\/","url_meta":{"origin":110639,"position":0},"title":"A Pastor for the Interim","author":"Thom","date":"28 June 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Enter RUMOUR, painted full of tongues. (Henry IV, Pt. II) It appears that due to Fr. Sacco's continuing ill health, we will have an interim pastor at our parish of Saint\u00a0Rita. Here is what I've been able to cobble together from various Internet sources about the man who will shepherd\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"community","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rev. Kenneth Baker, S.J.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Untitled-1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3750,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/glorious\/","url_meta":{"origin":110639,"position":1},"title":"Glorious!","author":"Thom","date":"04 June 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Last weekend, we threw a surprise birthday party for Francine. She's very clever, so we had to take some care in making sure she woudn't find out. We figured the only way we could throw a surprise birthday party for Francine's big 50 was to hold it seven weeks early\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Family&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/fmparty.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":85546,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/notes-on-the-transitions\/","url_meta":{"origin":110639,"position":2},"title":"Notes on the Transitions, Number 1 in a Series","author":"Thom","date":"23 July 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The very clever amongst you no doubt noticed in my previous post that our new pastor was not named pastor of both of our parishes. Let me explain. The parishes of Holy Rosary and St. Joseph have been joined at the hip for something like twenty years. They were first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2015 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ St. Joseph&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2015 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ St. Joseph","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/holy-rosary-st-joseph-transition\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Corpus Christi Mass, Holy Rosary, Tacoma, 2015","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/11401460_10152884020955382_8949689444964467811_n-240x320.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1226,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/sanctification\/","url_meta":{"origin":110639,"position":3},"title":"Sanctification","author":"Thom","date":"01 July 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Three thoughts for today, a day of convergence. Today is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, a feast of particular importance to the Jesuits, and a subject on which I've written recently. (A Wounded Heart) We attend a Jesuit parish and Rev. Kenneth Baker, S.J. appropriately celebrated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Holy Days&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Holy Days","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/holy-days\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Sacred-Heart8-203x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89232,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-10-most-popular-posts-of-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":110639,"position":4},"title":"The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2017","author":"Thom","date":"30 December 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Who doesn't like top ten lists? These are the top ten post hits on the blog for this past year. Last year I published a similar list, and it's interesting to see how they intersect. Not all of the posts receiving the hits were necessarily written this year. Apparently, their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Annual&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-29-09.59.58.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-29-09.59.58.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-29-09.59.58.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-29-09.59.58.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/2017-06-29-09.59.58.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100510,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-10-most-popular-posts-of-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":110639,"position":5},"title":"The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2019","author":"Thom","date":"30 December 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"These are the top ten post hits on the blog for this past year. Not all of the posts receiving the hits were necessarily written this year. Apparently, their appeal is enduring. In addition, for posts that are part of a numbered series (Novena to the Holy Deacons, I'm looking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2018 transitions in Tacoma&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2018 transitions in Tacoma","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/2018-transitions-tacoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Holy-Rosary.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Holy-Rosary.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Holy-Rosary.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Holy-Rosary.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Holy-Rosary.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Rev-Kenneth-Baker-SJ.jpeg?fit=220%2C284&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110639"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110645,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110639\/revisions\/110645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}