The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The Catholic Community of St. Matthias’ faithful filled the pews October 12 for the Rite of Installation of its new parish priest, The Rev. Thomas Lanza.
Lanza succeeds The Rev. Abraham Orapankal, who served as the parish priest since 2018.
A priest for the past five years, Lanza’s last assignments were as the Vocation Recruiter for the Diocese of Metuchen and as a Chaplain at the Catholic Center at Rutgers University and at Saint Joseph’s High School in Metuchen.
The Installation was part of the noon Mass at the church, and was officiated by the Diocese’s outgoing Bishop James Checchio.
During the Rite, Bishop Checchio acknowledged each of the groups in the parish who will interact with Lanza – the parish staff and clergy, the finance committee, the Pastoral Council, and parish Trustees – who then committed to working with them for the betterment of the parish.
“Remember, my brother, always be a loving father and gentle shepherd and a wise teacher of your people so that you may lead them to Christ who will strengthen all that you do,” Bishop Checchio said at the end of the Rite.
Lanza, as tradition dictated, then led the congregation in the Catholic Profession of Faith.
Lanza thanked his family, friends and members of the congregation, as well as community leaders.
“And many of you I met just as I started here, you took it upon yourselves to reach out to me, so I wanted to take it upon myself to reach out to you and to thank you,” Lanza said of the leaders. “I know that we’re all on one team here in Somerset. We all want this to work well, and we want to work together.”
I look forward to a collaborative and cooperative relationship with you as we move forward,” he said.
A native of South Brunswick, Lanza said after the ceremony that he was working in sales and management when he “felt the pull to go into the seminary to entertain perhaps the call to priesthood.”
“I was really drawn to service, you know, serving those who are in need,” he said. “And so that sort of pulled me in, but also the ritual and the grounding that I think a life in God, trying to live a holy life, can yield.”
Lanza attended seminary in Baltimore, Md., where he said he studied philosophy and theology for six years.
“And then when I was ordained, I came back to the Diocese of Metuchen and I was sent to Bernardsville and then I was sent to do vocations work in New Brunswick at Rutgers,” he said. “So I helped people come into the seminary that were interested in the priesthood.”
It was on Easter Sunday, Lanza said, that he received the call from Bishop Checchio that he’d been assigned to St. Matthias.
“And I said, fantastic,” he said.
“I’m your neighbor, Franklin,” he said. “I grew up right next door in Kendall Park. You know, I know this area really well. I’ve worked in this area. I know the demographics. I’m one of you.”
“So I just think it’s a really good fit with my experience to also get the opportunity to serve this great community of Franklin and Somerset, and bring folks back to God,” Lanza said.
Bishop Checchio enumerated Lanza’s responsibilities to the parish.
“Father’s main job as your pastor is first, his first task, that you would make the call to be a believer,” he said. “To be a believer, to keep in his faith in the Lord each day, by his own growing closer in his friendship with Jesus each day. That has to be his priority each day as your pastor, to be himself.”
“Stay close to our Lord, so that he can, in turn, give you what he has, share with you what he has,” he said. “You can’t give what you don’t have. So his first task is to stay close to the Lord, to grow in his friendship with Jesus. But then it’s to help this parish, every one of you, to do the same thing.”
“How do I help them grow in their friendship with Jesus? That has to be his driving force,” Bishop Checchio said. “Is this helping them grow in their friendship with Jesus? Is this helping them grow in their love of Jesus? All the things that we do in a parish, all the things that take up our time, all the ways we give, that’s the purpose of it all.”
“Matthias has such a beautiful history of being faithful people and putting that into action,” he said. “Sharing Jesus with others and serving our brothers and sisters too, whatever their need is, and serving everyone, huh? And I thank you for doing that.”
“That’s his task as your pastor,” Bishop Checchio said. “He’s well prepared to do it. He’s done it in his past assignments.”
The bishop noted that Lanza has “particularly shown his love for Catholic education, for schools, through his different assignments.”
“He’ll have a special place in his heart for spreading the faith, and helping our students grow in the faith too,” Bishop Checchio said.
“So it’s my privilege to install him today, and he’s prepared and eager to be your pastor,” he said. “And I’m grateful to him for taking on this privilege, but also this responsibility. I know that he comes with much help from this parish, too. It’s a very active parish, so I thank you for that. Thank you for your generosity of spirit, your generosity of service.”
