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Name: Matthew Murray
Date of birth: May 12, 1989
Hobbies/Interests: Reading biographies and theology, hiking, watching good movies.
Favorite Saints: the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Josemaria Escriva, St. Catherine of Sienna.
I come from a family of ten children and two loving parents. I was very young when I began to learn about the Catholic faith and my parents made sure that I was raised in a home centered upon God's will. After receiving First Holy Communion, I began to serve Mass every Sunday. I believe it was then that I first began to hear God's call to become a priest.
I was home schooled throughout middle school and high school. At the same time I continued to learn about the Catholic faith both at home and in the parish. I was also blessed with the opportunity to deepen a life of prayer. I was able to attend daily Mass and take care of the sacristy before starting homework. I also had a number of good friends who encouraged me to have a relationship with Christ in the Eucharist and with our Lady. I also became friends with a number of good priests who lived their vocation with a spirit of generosity.
Though I was thinking about the priesthood, I decided to attend the University of Dallas. There I was able to deepen my relationship with God and I also realized my passion for reading and study. I began to think that I was called to be a teacher or professor and I started to plan my life in that direction. Yet the more I tried to plan out my life, the more I realized a sense of restlessness. After two years at the University of Dallas, I was unable to return for my Junior year due to financial reasons, and I began to work.
At this point I was really trying to discern God's will for my life and I continued to pray. After a period of time I began to hear the call to serve God as a priest again. At the time I was reading the life of Pope John Paul II. His heroic life as priest, bishop, and pope had a profound affect on me. I decided to look into the diocesan priesthood and continued to pray for God's guidance through the intercession of our Lady.
I am now studying for the priesthood at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park for the Diocese of Oakland. I am continuing to ask God to lead me and to show me His will. I trust in the prayers of our Blessed Mother as well. I hope to be able, one day, to serve God by serving His Church as a priest. I want to help others to have a greater love for Jesus in the Eucharist, in the Sacrament of Penance, and for His mother Mary. As I study for such a tremendous task, I have also discovered the peace that St. Augustine spoke of when he said, "Our hearts, O God, are restless, until they rest in You."