O Felix Culpa

She stared at me with quiet curiosity. I stood at the front of the classroom describing my ordination to the priesthood which happened just months before. All the fourth graders gave me their polite attention, but there was something about me that was puzzling this one girl. I finished my presentation. “OK, are there any questions?”

Her hand went up immediately. “You don’t talk funny. You sound a lot like us.”

That was an odd observation, I thought. She proceeded with her question. “Do you love your family?” she asked.

“Sure!” I answered. “They’re very important to me.”

“Do you miss home?” she followed up.

“Well, I guess so. But I haven’t lived at home for a long time.”

There was a sad look on her face, so I assured her, “I still see them.”

This was 1995. Facebook, Skype, Zoom – all those media platforms for electronic exchanges hadn’t yet been conceived. So the little girl asked, “When was the last time you saw them?”

“This past weekend,” I said. “I usually see some of them at home every weekend.”

Her eyes bugged wide and her mouth dropped open. “You travel all that way each weekend?!”

I started to get suspicious about this little girl’s presumptions about me: the lack of an accent, the distance from my home. I asked her, “Where do you think I’m from?”

“Well, you’re from Ireland, aren’t you?”

I laughed out loud. “No! I’m from south St. Louis!”

Evidently, rumors had been circulating at this parish to which I had just been assigned. They heard a ‘Fr. O’Toole’ with red hair was coming. “He must be from Ireland,” they no doubt surmised.

So for the record – and by way of introduction – I’m Father Matt O’Toole, not from Ireland. I am very much a born-and-bred City of St. Louis kid.

I am – what some diocesan priests call – a “lifer.” That means I went through the full twelve year run of the three seminaries of the Archdiocese. After finishing grade school at St. Joan of Arc, I entered the high school seminary, St. Louis Preparatory Seminary South. Next, I attended Cardinal Glennon College completing my undergraduate studies at St. Louis University where I earned two undergraduate degrees in philosophy and history. Then it was on to Kenrick Seminary where I earned my graduate degrees in theology. In the summers, I was a student at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where I completed an M.A. in modern European history. Finally, I was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese by Cardinal Justin Rigali in 1995.

I served as an assistant pastor at St. Joseph in Manchester (1995-96) and St. Raphael the Archangel in St. Louis Hills (1996-2001). For the next ten years, I was the chaplain and teacher at Christian Brothers College High School. During that time I resided and assisted at Our Lady of Lourdes in University City (2001-2008) and Ascension in Chesterfield (2008-2011). I now come to St. Peter after serving ten wonderful years as pastor at St. Margaret of Scotland in the Shaw neighborhood of south St. Louis.

Praised be Jesus Christ!

Two years ago, I had a memorable conversation with Msgr. Costello. He told me that a certain virus from China was going to shut down the US, and that I would not be returning to St. Peter that year as the seminarian assigned to serve the Sunday Masses. I did not believe him. He was right.

It is a joy for me to be coming back to St. Peter as your priest. I was ordained on May 29th of this year, having spent my last five years at Kenrick Seminary. I felt drawn to parish priesthood for two reasons: First, because the parish priest is a spiritual father to all those who come into his parish. Religious orders tend to have various ‘specialties’ in their ministry. I see parish priesthood as being closely aligned with Jesus’ own life, imitating his radical availability to all those he encountered. Secondly, I love St. Louis. We live in a city with a rich history that retains its own unique character. At the same time, it is a wounded city in many ways and needs the love of Jesus Christ as it is lived out in his Church. It is these two desires that ultimately drew me to become a parish priest in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and I am eager to begin full time ministry here at St. Peter.

I am a St. Louis native, the second of four kids, from St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Parish. In case you were wondering, I did go to a Catholic high school in St. Louis :-). After my time at SLUH, I spent four years at the University of Dallas, a small, Catholic liberal arts school, studying philosophy, and then I entered the seminary immediately after graduating.

If you have answered “Yes” to any of these questions, we would like to invite you to join the RCIA process this year.

If you would like more information about the RCIA process and where the Inquiry Sessions will be held, please contact Linda Doyle at ldoyle@stpeterkirkwood.org or call her at 314-966-8600, ext.1011.

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