Newly ordained men encouraged to serve ‘with a father’s heart’

ASBURY – Seated before Bishop James F. Checchio in the open-air National Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on the eve of Father’s Day, five men – four newly ordained priests and one newly ordained deacon, all for the Diocese of Metuchen – were called to emulate the love of St. Joseph for his Son, Jesus, with all God’s people.
 
“My brothers, you have heard a lot about spiritual fatherhood in your formation during your years in seminary and you men have prepared yourselves well to take on this role today, as four of you are ordained as priests and one as a deacon,” Bishop Checchio said, addressing the men during his homily. “If we desire to be true spiritual fathers, if we truly desire to become saints, and I know you do, then we need to take a cue – maybe 20 cues – from the fatherhood of St. Joseph and his radical openness to allowing his life to be reoriented by God’s holy will, through listening to Him.”
 
The new priests – Rev. Jun Joseph Querubin Alquiros, Rev. Ariel Robles Bautista, Jr., Rev. Timothy Mark Eck II, and Rev. Gregory Joseph Zannetti – were ordained for service in the Diocese of Metuchen on June 19. That same day, Rev. Mr. Ronal Romario Vega Pastrana, who is preparing for eventual service to the priesthood, was ordained a deacon for the diocese. The men were among the largest number of seminarians the diocese has had in over 25 years.
 
Acknowledging the gift of fatherhood, both spiritual and biological, and also wishing those present a happy Father’s Day, the bishop said that a worthy father often sacrifices his own wants, needs, and desires for the good of his children. Theses sacrifices are mostly done in quiet and unseen ways, he added.
 
“We know, of course, that a father is not just a sustainer of life or a maintenance man taking care of his children’s needs, but he is called to make his life a sacrificial offering of love that provides life for his children,” said Bishop Checchio. “How as priests we need to have this same type of sacrificial love in our lives, as we too are called to give up our own wants, desires and wishes, to serve as and where the Church needs us – not necessarily where we want – as we serve as celibate, prayerful, obedient servants of Our Lord. You solemnly promise to do this today, and we are so grateful for that.”
 
Held for the second consecutive year at the National Blue Army Shrine to accommodate more people in a socially distant location, the ordinations took place during the Year of St. Joseph, something the bishop said he hoped the men would always remember and from which they could continually draw inspiration.
 
Declared by Pope Francis on Dec. 8, 2020, and expected to end on Dec. 8, 2021, the yearlong celebration invokes St. Joseph’s special patronal blessing upon the whole Church and world. It was announced in conjunction with the publication of the Holy Father’s apostolic letter, “With a Father’s heart,” which begins by saying, “With a father’s heart: that is how St. Joseph loved Jesus.”
 
“This introductory line gives us, very simply, the identity of St. Joseph, who was given a father’s heart to love with the love of Our Father in heaven, not only Jesus, but also Mary and all of us, God’s children,” said the bishop.
 
Recalling his own devotion to St. Joseph, the bishop said he and his family often prayed the prayer to St. Joseph at home and he learned at an early age to pray that same prayer when beginning the rosary, something he still does to this day, he said.
 
“My love and admiration for St. Joseph has grown and changed, but it has been a constant admiration, and I have found him to be a worthy intercessor for so much of what a priest does each day to provide for the community entrusted to his spiritual and pastoral care,” said Bishop Checchio. 
 
“St. Joseph readily let his life be reoriented by God’s will over, and over, and over again in his life. That is why he ends up becoming a saint – he let his life be reoriented constantly by God’s will,” the bishop continued. “St. Joseph, for me, was an example of openness and courage and so I always looked up to him and prayed to him and hoped for those same qualities in my response and in my life as a priest of Jesus Christ.”
 
One of the newly ordained priests, Fr. Ariel Bautista, 28, who studied at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, South Orange, echoed those sentiments, saying that he too felt reoriented by God’s will in his own life, but that he ultimately placed his trust in the Lord.
 
“Since before, and even during my seminary formation, I found myself playing the ‘what if?’ game with increasing frequency,” Fr. Bautista said during an emotional address to those gathered for his first Mass of Thanksgiving on June 20, celebrated at St. Magdalen de Pazzi Church in Flemington. “I must recognize and learn from the ‘what ifs’ of my own life. The seminary formation helped me to acknowledge my own weaknesses and surrender them all into God’s hands. Though my heart is full of anxieties and worries about how my future ministry will be shaped, my heart is also overflowing with so much joy.”
 
Before moving from the Philippines to Flemington with his family, Fr. Bautista graduated from De La Salle University – Lipa in Lipa City, Batangas, Philippines, and earned a degree in classical philosophy from Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Seminary in Lucban, Quezon, Philippines. He will begin his priestly ministry serving at Immaculate Conception Parish in Annandale.
 
Having studied alongside Fr. Bautista at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, Fr. Jun Joseph Alquiros, 31, or now-Fr. Jay as he is known by family and friends, said the sacrificial love of a parent, which Bishop Checchio described in his homily for the ordinations, was an example he readily saw in his own life.
 
“I was reflecting this morning on the type of love that my mom has for me, and it is one that is really sacrificial. My father died before I was born, so she was a single mother raising three kids,” Fr. Alquiros said during his first Mass of Thanksgiving on June 20, celebrated at St. Ambrose Church in Old Bridge. 
 
Before presenting his mother with a special gift, Fr. Alquiros explained the symbolic custom behind it. “During ordination, my hands were anointed with sacred chrism oil and after they were anointed, I received a manutergium,” said Fr. Alquiros, describing the cloth used to wipe the blessed chrism oil from his hands after Bishop Checchio had anointed them. 
 
There is a symbolic custom of presenting the manutergium to the priest’s mother, who keeps it throughout her lifetime and then is buried holding it in her hands. According to tradition, when she comes before Our Lord, he says to her: “I have given you life. What have you given to me?” She hands him the manutergium and responds, “I have given you my son as a priest.”
 
“My mother, she was given the gift of a son, and she is giving that gift back to the Lord, having encouraged me to become a priest of Jesus Christ,” said Fr. Alquiros.
 
Before entering the seminary, he graduated from Nathan B. Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla., and then went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of North Florida, also in Jacksonville. Born in the Philippines and later moving to New Jersey as a child, Fr. Alquiros said New Jersey always felt like home. He will begin his priestly ministry serving at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Metuchen.
 
Unlike the others who will remain in the Diocese of Metuchen for their first year of priestly ministry, Fr. Timothy Eck, 29, will return to Rome to complete his License in Liturgical Theology at the University of the Holy Cross, or Santa Croce. He will continue to live at the Pontifical North American College, where he studied in seminary.
 
“When I look back on my life, the road I’ve walked to get to where I am now, I am reminded of the saying that God draws a straight line with crooked lines,” said Fr. Eck. “In a lot of ways, it was very simple things that led me to the priesthood. There wasn’t a big billboard moment, that lit up and said, ‘be a priest,’” he jokingly recalled.
 
But he said he is grateful God led him to where his is now. Though growing up as a practicing Catholic and in a faith-filled family, Fr. Eck said it was not until he discovered his own desire for the faith – praying, meditating on scripture, and praying the rosary – that he discerned that God was calling him to the priesthood. 
 
“The Blessed Mother really helped guide me and give me comfort. I know I can bring anything to her and then she slowly brought me to her Son,” said Fr. Eck. “It was through simple things that I just kept falling more and more in love with God, while very often trying to do my own thing, which God just kept letting me do because He knew where it was going to end.”
 
He celebrated his first Mass of Thanksgiving on June 20 at St. Jude Church in Blairstown, where he grew up. He graduated from North Warren Regional High School, also located there, and then went on to graduate from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science. Before returning to Rome, Fr. Eck will serve in priestly ministry for the summer at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Skillman.
 
Fr. Gregory Zannetti, 30, who studied alongside Fr. Eck at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, said while the call to the priesthood comes with sacrifices, it also comes with great grace too. “The call to the priesthood is a grace and I thank God for that always. I want to receive God’s love, but also give it to others,” said Fr. Zannetti. “It is an incredible grace to be able to celebrate the sacraments.”
 
The Edison native, who is a graduate of John P. Stevens High School located there, entered the seminary two years after graduating from Rutgers University in New Brunswick with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. 
 
In an emotional interview, Fr. Zannetti recalled an experience he had as a young child, watching as a priest at his home parish held up the Eucharist with tears in his eyes. “He knew it was Jesus,” said Fr. Zannetti. “At such a young age, that impacted me and now here I am. I cannot wait to do that.”
 
Just hours after his ordination to the priesthood, Fr. Zannetti celebrated his first Mass of Thanksgiving on June 19 in that very same place where that priest once stood so many years ago at St. Helena Church in Edison. He will begin his priestly ministry serving at St. James Parish in Basking Ridge.
 
Joining Fr. Zannetti at the parish will be newly ordained Deacon Ronal Romario Vega Pastrana, who will also serve at St. James, Basking Ridge, for the summer until he returns to Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University in the fall, where he will continue preparing for the priesthood.
 
Addressing the newly ordained men as brothers, Bishop Checchio – the chief shepherd of the Metuchen Diocese – ended his homily in prayer, asking for St. Joseph’s intercession for the men while also serving as a model of spiritual fatherhood, especially in this Year of St. Joseph.
 
“Pray for us, intercede for us and inspire these men to be ordained today, as they are made over in the very image of your own Divine Son anew, along with all our good and generous priests and deacons of this beautiful Diocese of Metuchen, to be spiritual fathers who learn from you and emulate you. May others come to know and call upon God as Father, ‘Abba,’ because of the example these men give, even as we strive to live up to the title we bear – ‘Father.’”
 
To learn more about vocations in the Diocese of Metuchen, or to watch the recording of the ordinations, visit diometuchen.org/vocations.