Deacon Francisco Jaurides said he hopes to focus on parents, specifically fathers, in his role as a permanent deacon.
“I believe if you educate them spiritually, it will transfer to the kids,” said Jaurides, a member of St. Philip and St. James Parish, Phillipsburg.
Several years ago, he recalled, while visiting a friend, he learned his friend had stopped attending Mass. “I had a talk prepared [for him],” he said, and the pair spoke at the friend’s dining room table about being a spiritually fulfilled parent.
More recently, the friend’s wife told Jaurides “You remember that speech on the dining room table? Well thank you, because he did change.”
The man became more involved in Church life and is teaching his children to become more active spiritually.
Jaurides recalled telling the wife, “Don’t thank me, it’s God.”
A resident of Easton, Pa., Jaurides, 48, received his own spiritual awakening to the diaconate around 2017. Father Juan Carlos Gaviria, who was then a parochial vicar at St. Philip and James and currently administrator at St. James the Less Parish, Jamesburg, was assisting Jaurides’ wife, Suyapa, in faith formation. Jaurides attended the sessions to offer support.
“Father Juan Carlos would ask me questions every time we met,” Jaurides recalled. “Until one day, he said, ‘Wait a minute, you would be a good candidate for the diaconate.’
“Father Juan Carlos saw something just by talking to me.”
He was dubious at first, but Jaurides told the priest he would think about it. He attended the parish’s Eucharistic adoration for 30 straight days. On the final day, he made his decision. “I was sure saying yes to the deacon formation was the right thing to do,” he said.
Raised in Caguas, Puerto Rico, Jaurides came to the United States in 1993, living in Staten Island, N.Y., at the behest of his father. It helped that Jaurides’ sister was living in the metropolitan area, but he soon went out on his own, he said. He studied automobiles and English, and today, Jaurides works for Caliber Collision near Allentown, Pa.
Jaurides and his wife live in Easton with their three children, Francisco E., Jessica and Frank Anthony. At St. Philip and St. James, the Jaurideses are active members; they also bring communion to the elderly living at a local nursing home.
Jaurides is proud yet humbled to be a member of the first all- Spanish-speaking diaconate class, whose members are of Hispanic descent.
“You keep wondering, is this my call?” Jaurides said. “I don’t want to do this myself. I want Jesus and Mary to be by my side.”
He said upon being ordained, “I represent the Church. So the way I act and express myself is as a role model for my kids, my wife, my parish and everywhere I go. Even on vacation … I represent the Church. That’s what I got from this diaconate formation.”
Jaurides also wants to be more than someone dressed in clergy clothes at the altar. “I want to help my community no matter where they send me, and grow myself and help my family as we grow spiritually,” he said.
To Jaurides, growing a faith community starts with helping fathers in their faith. But overall, his goal is to bring all people closer to God.