My name is Fr. Matt, the new pastor assigned to St. Stephen.  There is such joy and excitement in my heart to be serving with you and your families in the Lord’s vineyard here.  It is an incredible privilege to be with you, and I am grateful to the good Lord for his gentle providence in guiding my vocation and sending me where he wills. 

Growing up at Our Lady of Loreto Catholic Church in Foxfield, CO (i.e., Centennial/Aurora), I felt a call to the priesthood at a young age.  Our family started going to the first Masses of the parish’s founding in 1998, and for the next five years as the church building was being built, we had all of our Masses at Regis High School.  During those formative years, I befriended many priests who eventually formed and shaped my later vocation to the priesthood.

After eight years of seminary, I was ordained a priest in 2016, serving my first two years at the NW Tri-parishes of Craig, Meeker, and Rangely.  The next three years were spent serving as Archbishop’s priest-secretary, followed by the past two years doing university ministry as the parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Boulder which serves the University of Colorado.

I very much look forward to getting to you know you and your families, learning from you, and growing together with you in the months and years ahead.  In a very special way, I would like to thank Fr. Bert for his past decade of service to the community here in Glenwood Springs.  I am humbled to continue not only his work, but the 23 previous pastors before him, beginning in 1885 when the first Mass was celebrated in Glenwood Springs by Fr. Edward Downey.

My sincere prayer for you is that we may grow together in a deep encounter with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  May that same Spirit which inspired our beloved patron to cry out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59), fill our hearts with the peace, joy, and love of the God who first loves us.  Let us pray for one another and for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the many families and persons in the Valley who are longing to encounter the joy and truth of a life lived with and for Jesus Christ who has come to us and set us free.