It was once the day after Father Matthew Gonzalez’s ordination, and the newly minted priest was once jittery as he stood on the altar, making ready to rejoice Mass within the Bergenfield church the place he was once raised.
Fortunately for Gonzalez, he had a well-known presence at his facet. The deacon that day in May was once the person who’d been strolling him up the aisles of St. John the Evangelist since he was once a kid.
“Not numerous clergymen can say they’re on the identical altar as their very own father,” Gonzalez recalled in a contemporary interview.
An afternoon previous, the 28-year-old have been welcomed into the priesthood within the Archdiocese of Newark along with his father, German Gonzalez, taking a look on. Two weeks previous, it have been German’s flip, as Matthew helped within the ordination his 59-year-old dad as a deacon within the Metuchen Diocese. They got here in combination on May 29 in St. John’s for a historical Mass. According to Newark Archdiocese spokesman Sean Quinn, it was once the primary time that an archdiocese priest had celebrated his first Mass along with his father serving beside him.
“Walking down the aisle of St. John’s and seeing all the individuals who we knew for such a lot of years was once very particular,” stated German Gonzalez, who, like his son, had lived for years in New Milford. “I were given very emotional up there serving to my son. It was once an excessively non secular enjoy.”
Deacons ship the Gospel all the way through Mass, hold forth the homily and help the priest in quite a few tasks. They can carry out some Catholic sacraments, however there are others, corresponding to listening to confessions, or anointing the ill, that they can’t carry out as clergymen do. Deacons also are authorized to marry, whilst clergymen should stay celibate.
The males credited mom and spouse Maria Gonzalez for launching their non secular trips. She was once on Matthew’s thoughts as he strode in the course of the church the place he and two siblings had worshipped each Sunday for greater than 15 years.
“She was once the non secular pillar of our circle of relatives,” the son recalled. “Her religion was once what impressed everybody. I do not know if we might be right here lately if it wasn’t for her retaining us grounded the way in which that she did.”
Maria Gonzalez, who grew up within the Dominican Republic and got here to America at age 11, began the church formative years staff on the church and made certain the circle of relatives attended services and products each week. Praying the rosary at house was once non-negotiable. “She all the time requested, `Are you certain you’re doing the best factor? Are those the best buddies you need to be with? Make certain that God is primary on your lifestyles,’ ” Matthew stated. “That was once massive for me. To have that mantra in my lifestyles. It helped me keep not off course.”
Watching her husband and son officiate in combination introduced a deep “sense of achievement,” Maria stated. “Our lives have all the time been about carrier.” she stated. “This was once only a new stage.”
German Gonzalez, a Colombian immigrant and long-haul truck driving force, was once a common presence on the parish, stated Monsignor Richard Arnhols, the pastor at St. John’s. German would accompany his son when Matthew carried out as a part of the church band that performed for kids with disabilities. “He can be within the frame of the church, listening to verify the sound was once good, ensuring they’d the whole lot they wanted,” Arnhols stated.
Arnhols knew the elder Gonzalez as a “quiet and unassuming” member of the church, however the father gave the impression “remodeled” via his adventure to the diaconate, he added, judging via the speech he gave after his son’s first Mass.
“It was once transparent how proud every was once of the opposite.”
German now serves as a deacon at St. John Paul II Parish in Perth Amboy, a part of the Metuchen Diocese. Matthew is parochial vicar at St. Bartholomew Parish in Scotch Plains, within the Newark Archdiocese.
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The trail wasn’t a directly one for both guy.
Matthew Gonzalez grew up attending St. Joseph, a Catholic faculty in Oradell. He first regarded as the priesthood at age 8, he stated. “The instructor was once discussing quite a lot of professions, and she or he stated, ‘Does someone suppose they might need to be a clergyman?’ “
Without serious about it, he raised his hand. His buddies have been surprised, Matthew recalled.
In highschool, he served as a formative years minister and performed piano and guitar for the church. The priesthood was once tugging at his middle, however he additionally yearned for a traditional lifestyles with a circle of relatives and occupation. He entered seminary at Seton Hall University in 2015, considering he may check it out for a yr.
He quickly discovered that turning into a clergyman was once “what made me really feel maximum fulfilled in lifestyles.” Now, as an ordained priest, he added, “I’ve by no means been happier in my lifestyles.”
His father was once raised via non secular oldsters in Colombia and was once deeply influenced via his mom’s teachings. German got here to America at age 22 and married. He was an impartial truck driving force for FedEx. He nonetheless drives an 18-wheeler on interstate journeys, a task he is held for greater than two decades. At his spouse’s urging, he was deeply focused on church actions.
He first concept of changing into a deacon a decade in the past, however in any case made the rush after the circle of relatives moved to Perth Amboy and the native priest inspired him. He fearful that his English wasn’t sturdy sufficient however entered a diocese program introduced to assist Spanish-speaking deacons.
“A deacon is the bridge between the folk and church,” he stated.
Every evening, German would end his eight-hour FedEx shift and head to magnificence or learn about on his personal to finish the four-year deacon’s program. “My circle of relatives believed in me,” he stated.
Since their ordinations, the deacon stated, different clergymen have requested what he would name his son.
“For me, Matthew is my organic son,” he stated. “But now he is additionally my non secular father.”
Correction: A previous model of this tale incorporated fallacious data at the sacraments that clergymen and deacons can carry out.
Deena Yellin covers faith for NorthJersey.com. For limitless get right of entry to to her paintings protecting how the non secular intersects with our day-to-day lives, please subscribe or turn on your virtual account lately.
Email: yellin@northjersey.com
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