Meet Matt Lopez, S.J.

Matt Lopez, S.J. joined the teaching staff at Gonzaga this fall. Originally from Philadelphia, Matt graduated from St. Joe’s Prep and then Loyola University Maryland. After college graduation, about six years ago, he entered Jesuit formation, and is currently completing his Regency here at Gonzaga.

Matt sat down with us to talk about why he was drawn to religious life, what he enjoys about teaching, what it’s like living in the Jesuit Community on Eye Street, and more.

When did you know that you wanted to become a Jesuit?

When I got to St. Joe’s Prep, I met Jesuits who were very holy, very devout, very pious people, but also extremely down to earth. They were about getting down to business, they were very practical—that practical kind of faith really drew me in.

At Loyola, I expressed my interest in religious life to a Jesuit my freshman year, and he just laughed. He said, “Have fun, get into trouble, do the college experience, and then if you still feel that way in two to three years then come and see me and we’ll sort that out.”

After Loyola, I was at the crossroads where I was thinking of doing Jesuit Volunteer International, going to grad school in speech pathology, which is what I had majored in, or maybe this Jesuit thing would fit. What I realized was, if I went to grad school, I would be invited into really intimate moments of people’s lives—people who have had strokes, people who can’t say their significant others’ name, or infants who have to learn how to swallow. Was I comfortable in that space? I thought yes.

At the same time, I was looking at JVI, and it was exciting to go halfway around the world and do the kind of service that I was growing into as a student at Loyola.

So I thought if I was ready to be a part of those intimate moments with people and move halfway around the world for service, why not do both of them at the same time? Why not try the Jesuits out? If it works, great. If it doesn’t, that’s okay too. For me, it was now or never. And thank God, up until now, it’s been a very good fit.

What are you teaching here at Gonzaga this year?

Sophomore and freshman religion.Freshmen study the Old Testament in the fall and the New Testament in the spring. Sophomores study Christology and the sacraments in the fall, and ecclesiology and church history in the spring. In both classes, we are constantly stepping back, asking, where does Jesus fit into this, and how does this tie into the church as a whole, as well as daily life?

I’m also doing Campus Ministry work—coordinating liturgies, doing sacristan work—and going on and leading retreats.

Is this your first experience teaching?

As a Novice, I taught for a semester in Micronesia. It was a tiny high school, about 60 kids per class. I was teaching Latin, English, and Public Speaking. That was a blast, but there was not a lot of professional preparation. At Gonzaga, I’m getting a lot of that, which is wonderful.

Tell me about a memorable moment from your first semester.

When the freshmen read the Genesis accounts, they quickly realize that Genesis One and Genesis Two conflict. God created man last in the first creation story, yet man is pretty much the first thing he creates in the second story. How do they fit together?

The students think going in that it’s one continuous story, and it is, but not in the narrative sense that they are thinking. There is a consistent truth there, but it’s not so literal. One student wrote about that in one of his essays. He was able to recognize that we’re not just approaching the Bible as literal fact. It’s poetry, it’s history, it’s folklore. For him, interpretation took on a new meaning in the class. That was really rewarding for me.

Is part of your role here to talk about and promote Jesuit life?

I think part of my role as a Jesuit—and all Jesuits’ roles in general—is to promote religious vocation without being pushy. One way of thinking about it is, are we happy? Do other people see that we’re happy? If we are going out and being our best selves and really working with others, people are attracted to that. Our responsibility is being open with the outside world and the Gonzaga community as a whole. And so, working with the young men, I try to be happy. I also try to be real and honest with them, and if that resonates, wonderful.

As a new member of Gonzaga, what has stood out to you about this community?

People who are not from Jesuit schools can have this idea that Jesuit schools can be elite or pompous. Gonzaga does a very good job of telling the young men and faculty and staff that that’s not what we’re about. The Jesuit term is downward mobility—how do we choose the other person as opposed to resting on our laurels? How do we be a part of the world that’s outside our comfort zone?

I’ve seen that in the conversations we’ve been having this year around slavery, poverty, and race. Other schools are not having those conversations. Or, if they are, it’s in drips and drabs. But I think it’s very much filled the conversation—or at least the conversations I’ve been in—at Gonzaga.

What is it like living in the Jesuit Community here on Eye Street?

The community is awesome. I’m the youngest in the house, but we have a good solid age range—late 20 somethings to early 80 somethings.

We have an incredible mix. We have younger guys and older guys. We have guys from the West Coast, guys from the Midwest, guys from the South, the East Coast. We have people from Haiti. We have white Jesuits, Pilipino Jesuits, black Jesuits. I think it’s indicative of the international Society—we’re just a little snapshot of the Society as a whole, which is really cool.

Before now, I had only lived in communities with 20 and 30 somethings—all very young, learning and getting used to this life. Being in a community like this is very grounding and eye- opening for me. This is what the Society is about.

After your formation is complete, what type of work do you think you’d like to pursue?

One thing that excites me is high school work. Either coming back to Gonzaga or a place like Gonzaga would be really neat.

At Loyola, I studied speech pathology and audiology, which I loved. I really enjoy working with the deaf community, learning about deaf culture, and understanding more about what they bring both to the wider hearing community and the church.

But at this point, what I’m most worried about is grading exams! In general, I’m really trying to be as open as I can to new experiences and seeing where they might lead.

This story originally appeared in the Winter 2018 issue of The Good News from Nineteen Eye Street. To page through the full magazine, please click here.

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