You see this happening more and more — and it recently happened in the Archdiocese of Newark.
The story (h/t Father Matthew Schneider!), from The New York Post:
When he said the “Our Father,” his own dad was on the altar beside him.
Matthew and German Gonzalez became the first father-son duo in the history of the Archdiocese of Newark to celebrate their first Mass together.
On May 29, the day after his ordination, Matthew, 28, was joined by his father, German, 59, who became a deacon two weeks prior, at mass at St. John the Evangelist in Bergenfield, N.J., the parish he grew up attending.
“I had thought about my first Mass and what it would be like, but I never imagined that I would have my father next to me at the altar,” said Matthew who serves the parish of St. Bartholomew the Apostle Catholic Church in Scotch Plains.
Matthew felt a calling to the priesthood at eight years old, when his religion teacher discussed vocations.
“At the end of that class, she said, ‘So does anyone here think that they want to be a priest?’ I kind of felt like I wanted to raise my hand, but of course, I’m gonna look around the room to see if any other of the guys are gonna raise their hand,” he explained. “No one did.”
Read on. Ad multos annos!
