Serving Those Who Serve: Rev. Jorge Moncada (’18)

Although baptized a Catholic, when Rev. Jorge Moncada (’18) was a boy, he and his family attended Mass only a few times per year. Still, even then, he sensed God’s calling to the priesthood, dressing up in his father’s dress shirts to play “priest” and blessing neighbors with flowers. He and his mother moved to the United States from Mexico in 2008 and, as they settled into their new life in Oxnard, California, a school friend invited Fr. Moncada to join him in becoming an altar server. As he came to understand the Mass and became more involved in parish life, he began to take his faith — and his calling — much more seriously. 

“I’ve been blessed with a good Catholic education and can understand why we believe what we believe.”

While a junior in high school, he applied to Juan Diego House, a formative center for undergraduate students discerning seminary, intending to enter after graduation. Then, one of his teachers introduced him to Thomas Aquinas College and took him to visit. “I was impressed by the Catholic life and how well educated the students were,” he recalls. “One thing that really impacted me was seeing someone drop a mug of coffee in the campus coffee shop: He came back and cleaned it up himself, instead of leaving it for someone else to deal with. That quiet, considerate act really stuck with me.” 

That visit, and two weeks at the High School Summer Program, convinced him to attend the College before seminary. “I wanted more life experience, and I knew I would get that at TAC.” 

His zeal for the priesthood only grew during his time on campus and, after his 2018 graduation, he entered St. John’s Seminary for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. On May 31, 2025, the Most Rev. José H. Gomez, ordained him to the sacred priesthood. “My ordination was a blur,” Fr. Moncada says. “But I still felt the love and support of all the people walking with me. It was really beautiful.” 

His first assignment is at Resurrection Church in Boyle Heights, where he is serving under Msgr. John Moretta — who has been the parish’s pastor for over 43 years — and ministering to the local community, many of whom are immigrant families. 

“This community is very economically poor, but spiritually rich,” he says. “I’ve been blessed with a good Catholic education and can understand why we believe what we believe, whereas these people just have faith. It’s such a blessing to be able to help them go deeper in their faith and understand it better.”