Two North Plainfield parishes welcome the same pastor

Two parishes in the Diocese of Metuchen had reason to celebrate on July 30 when Bishop James F. Checchio installed Father Mauricio Tabera-Vasquez as the pastor of St. Luke Parish and St. Joseph Parish, both in North Plainfield.

The parishes, St. Luke with approximately 200 registered families, and St. Joseph with some 1,600 families, are 2.5 miles from each other and will remain separate parishes with Father Tabera-Vasquez as pastor and Father Gilbert Starcher as parochial vicar at both.

Bishop Checchio served as principal celebrant and homilist at both installation Masses. Father John Pringle, a retired priest of the Diocese, who recently had served as temporary administrator of both parishes, and Father Michael Fragoso, pastor of Visitation Parish, New Brunswick, were concelebrants at St. Luke.

Concelebrants for the Mass at St. Joseph were Father Gustavo Andres Rodriguez-Perez, parochial vicar; Msgr. Randall Vashon, pastor, St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish, Bridgewater, and Father Ronal Vega-Pastrana, pastoral vicar, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Bernardsville.

In his homilies Bishop Checchio recalled hearing Pope St. John Paul II say, “The first role of a pastor is to be someone who the parishioners can believe with.” Not to believe in but to believe with.  “The gift of the priesthood,” the Bishop continued, “is to give every single member of the human family someone to believe with.” As their shepherd the Bishop assured the parishioners gathered in each church that, “I am a believer,” he told both congregations, “You can be confident that Father Mauricio also is a believer.”

Bishop Checchio challenged both congregations to, “always make Jesus a priority in our lives.  Not just for an hour on Sunday but every day of our lives, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Father Tabera-Vasquez was born in Columbia to Enrique and Maria Estella. He was the seventh of their nine children.  His father’s parents still live in Columbia. He began his preparation for the priesthood at a minor seminary in that country.  After coming to the Diocese he studied at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pa., where he received a Master of Divinity degree. Father was ordained May 28, 2016, by Bishop Checchio.

Prior to being named as administrator of St Joseph Parish July 6, 2022, Father Tabera-Vasquez was chaplain at Immaculata High School, Somerville and then served as the vocations director for the Diocese. Father said, “Encouraging and fostering vocations to the priesthood is still a major focus of my life.

Dennis Curran, who has been a member of St Luke Parish since 1995, said, “I am very excited to have Father Mauricio as our full-time pastor. The parish has been waiting for someone like him, energetic and creative.  He reinstated both the pastoral and financial councils.”

Beth Willoughby, a life-long member of St Luke Parish feels, “Father Tabera-Vasquez is very welcoming to everyone and he will be a very active pastor.”

Robert and Alexandra Benson attended the installation Mass at St Joseph Parish along with their three children, including a two-week-old daughter. Both members of the parochial council, they agreed that Father Tabera-Vasquez has been, “a great gift to St Joseph. He is orthodox in his beliefs and very energetic. He is very gentle towards everyone but speaks his mind.”

Father Vega-Pastrana said as vocation director Father Tabera-Vasquez, along with Msgr. Vashon, were instrumental in bringing him to the Diocese. The two priests knew each other at the seminary in Columbia. “I am grateful to Father Tabera-Vasquez for the major influence he had on my vocation,” he said.

Attending the Mass at St. Joseph Parish were most of the deacons ordained last year in the first Hispanic Permanent Diaconate class for the Diocese.  Deacon Sergio Diaz, who serves at Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Perth Amboy, explained, “In one way or another Father Tabera-Vasquez has had an impact on each man’s vocation and was one of our instructors in formation.”

Father Tabera-Vasquez said he was grateful and impressed with the welcome he received at both parishes. “The congregations are very supportive, generous and enthusiastic.” At the end of each Mass Father expressed his gratitude to Bishop Checchio for his trust and confidence in him. He also thanked his brother priests for their presence and everyone who contributed to the celebrations and to all who attended.

In his closing remarks at the end of Mass at St. Joseph, Bishop Checchio reiterated, “We need more priests. The Diocese needs more priests, our world needs more priests, so if you know someone who you believe would be a good priest, please encourage him.”