Interview on Profiles in Catholicism

Profiles in Catholicism is a website that tries to interview leaders in the Catholic world. I felt honored when they asked for an interview. I guess I’m some kind of Catholic leader. The interview just went up on their site. I hope that some of you find it helpful. I quite part below, but if you want, the whole interview is on their site.

Gordon: When did you receive your vocation With whom did you discuss it and was that their response?

Fr. Matthew: When I was in my second year of college, I felt the call to the priesthood while listening to St. John Paul II. I discussed it with a few friends, with my mom, and with the diocesan vocation director. I looked not just at the diocese but a few religious communities as well. The Legion came up as sone to explore based on Regnum Christi members I knew.

Gordon: What seminary did you attend and what was your most challenging course and why?

Fr. Matthew: I went to the Legion’s seminaries. That was three years in our novitiate and college of humanities in Connecticut, two years of philosophy in New York, and three years of theology in Rome. The hardest classes were probably the ones on prayer and personal growth. I did not struggle too much with the purely academic side of the formation.

Gordon: When and why did you start a youth ministry?

Fr. Matthew: Between philosophy and theology, we in the Legion generally do a few years of work out in one of our communities. Usually, this is 2 or 3 years now but used to be a little longer, and I ended up doing four years. As a brother, I got assigned to traveling youth ministry in Ohio, with occasional trips to neighboring states. I took to it quite strongly and after a few years, I started writing the formation materials for Conquest and Challenge youth ministry groups. The books used in Conquest and Challenge have been updated significantly since then, but a decent portion is probably still my text.

Read the rest on Profiles in Catholicism. EDIT: I posted another interview on a site for parents of autistic kids later this week.

Note: I get paid nothing for such interviews and during these trying times, covid is making our community budget tighter so donating via Patreon is much appreciated. Thank you.