New diocesan directors discuss ministries, spirituality, experiences

One is a New Jersey native; the other moved to the Garden State from South America while in high school and recently, Bishop James F. Checchio appointed both to head key offices in the diocese.

Allan Caballero, who grew up in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and came to New Jersey at 17, became director of the diocesan Office of Evangelization effective Nov. 16. He will continue to serve as director of the diocesan Office of Hispanic Evangelization and Pastoral Ministry, a position he has held since July, 2019.

Megan Vantslot, who was active in the youth group at her home parish, Immaculate Conception, Annandale, became director of the diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Evangelization Nov. 2

In their significant roles, both are seeking to impart their experience and exuberance as they spread Bishop Checchio’s message about the importance of evangelization and living a consecrated life.

Caballero, for example, spoke about how he became consecrated to the Virgin Mary. “It’s a huge piece of my spirituality,” he said, noting how the bishop has dedicated the diocese to Jesus through Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Caballero, 27, lives in Piscataway with his wife, Veronica, two daughters, Gianna and Luciana, and their dog, Celia.

Vantslot, 25, the daughter of David and Susan Vantslot, returned to Pittstown after most recently working as a missionary with Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS).

In an interview via Zoom, the new directors discussed how they became immersed in the faith, and shared personal reflections on whether they had considered religious life.

 

Q. Both of you have diocesan-wide responsibilities, which means serving 90 parishes in four counties. How do you compartmentalize that and break it down to cover the territory?

Caballero: I think it would be impossible for one person or one office to cover 90 parishes, so something that we have been trained to do is to train people and provide our lay leaders with the resources that they need so that they do the work at the parish level.

Vantslot: I’d definitely echo that. That is essentially discipleship, to be able to recognize I can’t, as one person, be in every single parish, but if people are living in a relationship with Jesus and praying and being filled in small groups and things of that nature, all of a sudden, I’m not just one person. It’s people all over the diocese who are teaching other people in the diocese. And so, it becomes way more than just myself. And that’s ultimately my goal working with youth ministers and young adults: to have the spirit of discipleship, because that’s what Jesus did. That’s how he modeled his ministry.

 

Q: What do you enjoy about your roles thus far?

Caballero: I enjoy meeting people and learning about their journey to heaven and seeing the love they have for God. It’s been an honor and a blessing to see and serve God’s people in our diocese.

Vantslot: So far, I’ve just been blown away at how the Lord allows specific people on different days, either to give me a phone call or send an e-mail. It’s always in these different ways that He’s surprising me with how he wants to use me in this role. And it’s ways I didn’t necessarily expect, but ways that are cool. And at the end of the day I’m like, “Thank you Jesus for bringing me here,” and I’m where I’m supposed to be.

 

Q: What would you consider to be your biggest challenge in your new roles?

Caballero: We’re such a large diocese with almost half a million Catholics. I think one of the challenges is finding effective ways of communication to reach out to all of them.

Vantslot: For me, the challenge is specific to starting in the middle of a pandemic and being completely remote. I’ve only met a few of my coworkers in person, and on top of that, getting to meet youth ministers and young adult leaders.

Caballero: We have seen an increase in participation in most of our programs. Even though we are in the middle of a pandemic, we switched from in-person programs to online programs. And that has given people the option and the opportunity to enroll for the first time in Bible studies and faith-formation programs. We’re seeing an increase in the number of people we’re serving. The Choices Matter pro-life conference we do every year, last year had about 250 people attend at Rutgers University. This year, we had hundreds more at the livestreamed conference.

 

Q: How do you see your roles evolving?

Caballero: I think something that I envision for both offices is where people can find resources, where people can find support, where we can partner with lay leaders of the parishes to support them on evangelization efforts. Something we will do in the next year or two is focus on developing people by giving them tools to become evangelical agents. We just don’t know what is going to happen. It’s difficult to see what’s going to happen in a year or two when we’re trying to answer the daily needs of our diocese.

Vantslot: Because of my experience with intentional discipleship and investment and sharing my life and sharing my prayer with others, I see my role as figuring out how to do that on the larger scale. And I think, in my mind, prayer changes everything, so I want to see that as my the most important thing that I can be doing personally and then instill that in the people in the diocese with whom I am trying to love and trying to build friendships and relationships. I don’t know if that’s evolving, but that’s my heart and what I really desire to see present.

 

Q: What does intentional discipleship mean?

Vantslot: I think sometimes Catholics have this idea that we can float through our faith. It’s not just this feel-good living of the faith, it’s an intentional way that we follow in the footsteps of Christ. In my mind, it’s like intentionally saying yes, like Our Lady saying yes to give of herself and live her relationship with the Father.

Caballero: With the emphasis we are doing in the diocese with the consecration to Jesus through Our Lady, we are being intentional about promoting the consecration as a way of life to follow the example of Mary, her holiness. Mary is the best example of Christianity and discipleship.

Vantslot: That’s the way of the disciple, to say ‘yes’ to the Lord.

 

Q: Was there one person, thing or event that led to your career calling in the Church?

Caballero: There was a retreat for youth when I was 16. I was not Catholic. My dad was agnostic; I was not raised in the faith. A good friend had died in an accident. Because of all that, I became aware of spirituality. Someone invited me to a Catholic youth retreat. That’s where I had my conversion getting involved in the Catholic Church in Ecuador. When I moved here, I connected with my parish and did volunteer work.   

Vantslot: I always wish I had that one moment where people share their testimonies and stories, but I think, for me, it was a series of moments. It started in my family, being raised in the faith, and then it went a lot deeper as I was in the youth group at Immaculate Conception. In college, I developed a more missionary heart, which ultimately led me to give up a prospective job in marketing to become a FOCUS missionary, which led me to apply for a position in the diocese.

 

Q: Did either of you consider a vocation as a priest or religious?

Caballero: I did. I discerned. I went to Colombia for three months to be a full-time missionary and serve our church. After the discernment, praying the rosary every day, going to daily Mass and daily adoration, God spoke to me and called me to the sacrament of marriage. Actually, after that discernment process, I came to the U.S. and met my wife at a Catholic retreat

Vantslot: I was discerning religious life pretty seriously for about a year. I went on a come-and-see visit with the Sisters of Life. If things had gone as I expected on that extended visit, I’d probably be a sister now. But it was there that I realized this deeper desire for marriage, for having a family, so I actually left early, when I recognized my call to marriage, but I’m still on that journey.