By Lois Rogers | Correspondent

As the June 30 retirement of Msgr. Thomas A. Luebking draws near, parishioners, friends and fellow priests are recalling his years of faithful and devoted service to the Trenton Diocese, and, for the past 25 years, St. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish in Spring Lake.

And, even as they commend his spiritual gifts, his administrative abilities and his ability to empower those he worked for and with, each man and woman expressed regrets that for the last several months, illness has taken him from the landscape he loved and nurtured for two-and-a-half decades.

God willing, they said, Msgr. Luebking will be well enough to join them at the 48th annual Candlelight Ball Aug. 23, a major fund raising event for St. Catharine School and the parish religious education program. There, hopefully, he will be present when he is “honored and celebrated” for his devotion.

That was how Marianne Kelly, parish administrator put it, as she reflected on the priest, pastor and administrator that she has known and worked with through all his years in St. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish.

Kelly’s own years of service to the parish began two years before Msgr. Luebking arrived.

From her vantage point, the life-long parishioner said she developed a “love and respect,” for the spiritual leader warmly referred to by the staff, she said, as their “German shepherd.”

She was the first of many to note how he used his “special gifts of administrative talent and vision” to bless the parish with fine liturgies, and to provide programs to deepen the faith and enrich the spiritual life of the parishioners.

He consistently worked, Kelly said, to “oversee a safe, secure and aesthetically pleasing campus and to foster the financial health of the parish. His stewardship of the parish was remarkable as well as far sighted,” she said, noting that he initiated and fostered the exacting restoration of St. Catharine Church, a Catholic landmark on the Jersey Shore.

There wasn’t an area of parish life that didn’t benefit from his attention and his pastoral and administrative skills, she said.

From establishing the parish financial and pastoral councils to reinvigorating the altar server program in a way that involved not only grade schoolers but also students from the upper grades, to nourishing the school with much-needed improvements such as a regulation size gym, to establishing the parish Social Concerns Committee that would eventually partner with Habitat for Humanity to build a house in Neptune, he continually sought improvements that benefited the parish and the community at large.

Under his guidance, the faith community grew to 4,000 families, parish life blossomed and the school flourished, she said and people became involved. “He has a way,” she said, “of empowering people.”

Sharing her experience of Msgr. Luebking’s gifts in empowering others, Karin Tanzola, who chairs the parish council, said that in his “very humble way, he used his gifts well, from spearheading fundraising to fostering everything from a children’s liturgy to ensuring social concerns were a real priority of the parish.

Simply put, she said, “He did a wonderful job.”

Years of Service

As impressive as Msgr. Luebking’s Spring Lake achievements are, they reflect only a portion of what he accomplished in his priesthood.

Born in Elkhart, Ind., Msgr. Luebking graduated from Villanova University, Villanova, Pa. with a bachelor of arts degree in 1961. He earned a master’s degree in library science from Villanova two years later. He studied for the priesthood in St. Francis Seminary Seminary, Loretto, Pa. and was ordained by Bishop George W. Ahr on May 29, 1971 in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.

He holds a doctorate of education in administration from The Catholic University of America, Washington, a master’s degree in library science and a bachelor’s degree in political science, both from Villanova University. Prior to entering the priesthood, he was an assistant professor at West Chester State College, West Chester, Pa, and St. Francis College, Loretto, Pa., both now universities.

Following his ordination, Msgr. Luebking was assigned to St. Joseph Parish, Bound Brook, and served as Catholic chaplain of Somerset County Community College. On March 17, 1972, he was appointed to serve as director of Cathedral High School, Trenton, and soon after, he began serving in the diocesan education office.

Named diocesan superintendent of schools in 1973, he dedicated more than a decade of service in that role. During that time he also served as moderator of the PTA and Diocesan Council of Catholic Women.  He also served on the board of directors for the Educational Improvement Center for both Central New Jersey and Northwest New Jersey.

On Sept. 15, 1977, he was named a Chaplain of His Holiness by Pope Paul VI with the title of monsignor. He was later named a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness on Dec. 11, 1983.

After many years of diocesan service, Msgr. Luebking returned to parish life as temporary administrator of St. Alphonsus Parish, Hopewell, in December, 1985 and soon after was named pastor.

He assumed his role as pastor of St. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish Feb. 3, 1989, where he continued to serve the parish and school community until his recent illness.

He has been a member of various library and educational associations and served on the board of trustees for the Sister Georgine Learning Center for Exceptional Children in Trenton from 1983 until it closed in 2013.

As a member of the Knights of Columbus since 1958 and a 4th degree member since 1963, he served as Grand Knight, financial secretary, district deputy and, since ordination, to various councils and assemblies. He has been a member of the Trenton Diocesan Council of Priests and was dean of the Monmouth Coastal Deanery.

Msgr. Luebking served on the Monmouth County Regional Board of Catholic Charities and the Development Committee of the Diocesan Board of Catholic Charities. In 1996, he became a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and is a Knight Commander. Since 1996, he has been vice-chair of the Catholic Charities Guardian Angel Dinner Dance. He is a member of the board of trustees of Coastal Caregivers, home health care services.

Life of Devotion

Priests who know and have worked with Msgr. Luebking spoke of his deep devotion to his faith. His innate sense of hospitality and his mission to help build a sense of community and fraternity among the clergy of the Coastal Monmouth Deanery also stand in the forefront of their reflections.

“First and foremost, he is a good priest,” said Augustinian Father Dennis J. Gallagher, who noted that Msgr. Luebking’s days always begin, end and are punctuated throughout, with prayer. “He always says the Divine Office. He is very devoted,” Father Gallagher said.

Father Gallagher, Villanova’s archivist, has served as weekend assistant in St. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish for more than two decades. He became acquainted with Msgr. Leubking when both were in the library science program in Villanova.

He talked of how Msgr. Luebking sought to share the gifts of the Church through liturgies and music that conveyed the sacred essence of the Holy Eucharist and touched the soul. “That is very important to him,” Father Gallagher said.

Priests who served neighboring parishes in the Coastal Monmouth Deanery spoke of his abiding hospitality to them and the way he sought to nourish community among them throughout his years of ministry there.

“His hospitality was a hallmark of this ministry,” said Father Michael J. Waites, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Riverton, who was pastor of neighboring St. Rose Parish from 2005-2009. He and Father Stanley P. Lukaszewski, pastor of St. Barnabas, Bayville, recalled Msgr. Luebking’s open invitation to fellow priests to join him when Saturday night Masses were over for a meal, community and conversation.

“He would gather us in and we would enjoy fellowship and fraternalism,” shared Father Lukaszewski recalling his own years in neighboring St. Denis Parish, Manasquan. “This built friendship and bonds among the pastors and clergy.”

Father Lukaszewski spoke of how those bonds held strong in the wake of Hurricane Sandy when St. Denis Parish – including the rectory – was badly battered. Msgr. Luebking invited him to shelter in St. Catharine-St. Margaret where he would stay for 13 weeks after the storm.

Father Lukaszewski said, “It epitomized his kindness and his compassion. He basically has a great spirituality – and that is at the forefront of his ministry. If someone needs help, you do whatever has to be done.”