A Kansas priest shepherds his flock amidst college nightlife and around campus
Updated: Jul 1
An associate chaplain at St. Isidore’s has blended his college days with a fatherly presence to lead souls to Christ in unlikely environments. For the past three years, Father Matt Davied has worn the collar in Aggieville bars to make connections with the Manhattan community. He said he’s not sure if it always “sticks” the next morning, but he knows they’ll at least remember a positive interaction with a priest the night before.
“It usually starts with a derogatory comment like ‘Father, you gettin’ hammered out here?’ or ‘Are you a real priest?’ I’m not taking it personally, I actually see it as an in to have a conversation with them,” Father Matt said. “This is somebody who knows I’m a priest, but isn’t necessarily living a moral life or maybe not even evangelized and they invite me to a conversation by making a comment.”
Father Matt said many of his conversations involve K-State’s fraternity boys and those who aren’t living moral lifestyles. He explains why it’s worth going to church and why it’s worth saving sex for marriage; how drunkenness isn’t good for us. Other encounters are less intentional interactions that bring him joy, one of which occurred recently.
“The other day I talked to a protestant-Christian and a member of the LDS church for about an hour. I was leaving and one of them made a comment to me,” Father Matt recalled. “I stopped, said ‘hi’ and it was awesome. I get so much life from that. I enjoy that so much, just being able to be a presence in a place where people think it’s godforsaken. There’s no reason why it has to be godforsaken. The bars are a place where people come together, but we’re so tainted by our tendencies to sin that because people tend to drink a lot, it’s become a sinful place.”
Another unique way he reaches the K-State student body is by praying the rosary during daily walks on campus. He said most of the time people might greet him with a smile and say hi, but other encounters are unseen or unknown until later.
“A girl this past spring came in with her professor from class. The professor said she had a seizure in class,” Father Matt said. “She refused to go to the hospital so I’m trying to talk to her and see what’s going on. Finally I said, ‘What brought you to St. Isidore’s?’ She said, ‘I saw you walking with your rosary and I wanted to come see who you are and I feel like you can help me.’ The professor was desperate, she wanted to call 911 but the girl wouldn’t let her.”
Encounters on rosary walks are few and far in between because they “aren’t necessarily intentional” in seeking out conversations. Some encounters during rosary walks are rainchecks for deeper conversations, where “real work gets done.” More intentional interactions revolve around the St. Isidore’s community.
Upon returning to the town Father Matt had received his calling to the priesthood over a decade ago, he knew his experience would be different as a priest. He said his role was to be a father, to generate life and be a shepherd for the community. To start off, Father Matt called his predecessor and friend, Father Drew Hoffman, to ask him about ministry during the summer time. Father Drew, who’s now at Wichita State University, replied, “You just hang with people, it’s the easiest job ever.”
Laughing at the memory, Father Matt admits he was frustrated at the time. He said having been here a few years, his friend was right: “You just kind of hangout with people. My assignment has been really relationship oriented here.”
Olivia Terryberry met Father Matt within those first couple months of his arrival. The K-State alumna established a friendship with Father Drew and was interested in meeting the next man up. Through Kappa Kappa Gamma events, hanging out at the bars, karaoke and group ice cream runs, Olivia quickly developed a friendship with Father Matt as well.
“Father Matt has been such a good shepherd to his flock. Just through friendship with him, he has taught me a lot about fatherhood and the Lord’s love for his children,” Olivia said. “He cares for the students’ mental, physical and spiritual well-being and is protective of his people. It has been such a gift to be someone that he takes care of and shows fatherhood too. It has impacted the way I view my relationship with the Lord and has increased my trust in God’s fatherhood because of the way Father Matt lives it out.”
One of his many memories includes helping out with Kappa Tuesdays, where sorority girls and Catholic guys meet for 9:09 p.m. Mass, followed by the bars, game nights, Karaoke and good conversations. Not knowing it at the time, Father Matt served as Olivia’s wingman through Kappa Tuesday.
“Once I started leading the charge of Kappa Tuesday, Father Matt was so encouraging to keep it going and recruited more guys to come in order to foster good, virtuous friendship,” Olivia said. “He was actually the person who introduced me to my current boyfriend!”
Father Matt has counseled several students through real-life problems for the past three years. Along with ministering Church sacraments, he has counseled students through anxieties and fears about faith, studies, romantic relationships and their future plans.
“To be a father is to generate life,” Father Matt said. “It’s to be able to reassure students amidst exterior desolations, exterior problems and concerns, of their identity in Christ, their goodness and their destiny that Christ has for them.”
Father Matt, who serves out of the Wichita Diocese, begins a new adventure on Monday in St. Paul, Kansas. The 34 year old is hopeful that his time working at St. Isidore’s alongside Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) will help build a church community at his upcoming assignment.
“I can take the reality of discipleship, which I saw FOCUS missionaries do,” he said. “They do a really intentional job of building up people one by one. It’s kind of the FOCUS model to live in the faith. I have learned that really well here and I think it can be done in a small parish. A small one like St. Paul would be actually ideal, to start with a few and fill up the whole church eventually.”
Father Trevor Buster will pick up where Father Matt left off on Monday, joining Father Gale Hammerschmidt at St. Isidore’s Catholic Student Center. Father Matt said the community can look forward to a priest who invites the public into his hobbies.
“You can expect a faithful priest who loves the priesthood, who loves meeting with people one on one to build up their spiritual lives,” Father Matt said about Father Buster. “He’s a man of many hobbies: he loves coffee, music, cars and shooting guns and he’s kind of good at making things light hearted.”
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