This year, we have two new young priests, Fr. Matt and Fr. Marc, who are ready to leave a positive and memorable impact on our student body. Faith plays a significant role in our community here at Cathedral, and introducing new priests might seem like a lot of change. However, these new priests are here to leave a positive impact on our student body.
Kristine Bacich Dean of Catholic Missions shares that, “I just think that I really want to encourage the student body to realize that change can be really good, and can be hard, but it is good. And to take advantage of having these priests who really care about your faith, but also you as human beings.”
Fr. Matt is our main Chaplain this year at Cathedral. He grew up in an area called Imperial Valley, in a small town called Brawley, California. After eighth grade he moved to La Jolla in 2009 and has been in San Diego since.
Fr. Matt has always believed in God, and went to church, but it never really meant anything to him until he was about 19. He went to a big youth conference at the university of San Diego, which inspired him and sparked his calling to become a priest. The speakers at the USD conference, including his experience of the Mass and Eucharist, marked the beginning of Fr. Matt’s love for Jesus.
After college, he joined the seminary and trained at the University of San Diego, called St. Francis Center for Priestly Formation, for six years. Where Fr. Matt primarily works at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church. He hopes that while being here at Cathedral, he can inspire kids to know that every one of us has a place in God’s kingdom.
Our other priest who will be helping out here is Fr. Marc. He grew up here in San Diego in the San Marcos area. Since a child, he has always had a deep love for serving the church. He was an altar server, a lector, and he helped distribute communion growing up. Because of this deep love he had as a child, he felt that God would give him so much joy serving the church as a priest.
He became a priest two years ago and started working at the Our Lady of Grace parish, but this year he has a new position as the director of vocation for our diocese. His main responsibility is to try to get people to know and be interested in dedicating their life to the vocation through the priesthood or sisterhood.
At Cathedral, he will be working closely with Fr. Matt, while also being here for us when he can. He hopes for the student body to grow in a relationship with Christ. As Fr. Marc says, “I would just hope that people grow in relationship with Christ, you know, that the students realize how much Jesus and God love them, and that they want to be in a relationship with Him.”
Here at Cathedral, faith is a very important aspect of our school, and without these amazing priests being here for us, we would not be where we are today as a school. We are blessed to have amazing priests who keep leading our community closer to God.
