C. Matthew Hawkins Profile

Ordained a Transitional Deacon: 2019

Anticipated Priestly Ordination: 2020

Home Parish: Saint Paul Cathedral, Pittsburgh, PA

Other Parishes I Call "Home": The Catholic Community of Lawrence County, PA, St. Joseph in Verona, PA, St. Charles Lawanga in Pittsburgh's East End, St. Benedict the Moor in the Hill District and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Carnegie, PA.

Seminary: St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, MD.

Pastoral Year: Parishes in New Castle and Lawrence County, PA

Career Background: Taught Social Work Macro-Practice at the University of Pittsburgh, specializing in Community Economic Development. Taught American History at Carlow University. Also taught students at Imani Christian Academy, K-12 in Middle School and High School English, Creative Writing and High School Sociological Research Skills.

Previous Work for Diocese Before Entering Seminary: work with parishes on leadership and discipleship among the laity, understanding that the parish is missionary in nature, and developing lay leadership through parish pastoral councils.

Elements Leading to Conversion to Catholicism: I grew up with fragments of the apostolic faith in the liturgical worship of the Methodist church but I wanted a fuller picture, which meant that I would have to go to the source from which we drew our fragments.

Values: To live a life of authenticity. This requires having meaningful and authentic relationships with God and with each other. It means being a member of authentic communities that do not disfigure the dignity of the human person. One of the secrets to living an authentic life is to encounter Christ in ordinary and everyday experiences. The other secret is self-emptying; it is to pour yourself out, unreservedly, in Christ.

The Process of Discernment Before Entering Seminary: 7 years of weekly nocturnal Eucharistic Adoration at the Ryan Catholic Newman Center, Pittsburgh Catholic Oratory.

Advice to Someone Considering a Vocation: Quoting Pope Saint John Paul II: “Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. 'Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch' (Luke 5:4).”

Advice from a Priest: Know your own story. Know the stories of your parishioners. Guide and accompany them on their journey to Christ.

Favorite Scripture Passages:

"Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John 12:24

“For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” Mark 8:36

"Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8

Favorite Authors of Religious Texts: (besides the obvious: Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, Bishop Robert Barron, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, and Mike Aquilina) Richard Rohr, Richard B. Hays, Dennis Billy, Raymond Brown, Michael J. Gorman, Gerald O' Collins, James K.A. Smith, N.T. Wright, Gregory A. Boyd, G.K. Chesterton, Luigi Giussani, James A. Cone, Richard R. Gaillardetz, Ronald D. Witherup, and Richard Rolheiser.

Favorite Saints: Saint Martin de Porres, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, St. Theresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross.

Favorite Theologians: Hans Urs von Balthasar, Karl Rahner, and James Cone

Spirituality: Somewhat Ignatian

Mottoes: "Grace builds on nature," "Trust the providence that brought you here," "Go forth and set the world on fire."

Loyola on the Potomac Photo Featured on Ignatian Spirituality Website

As part of their "Picturing God" series Ignatian Spirituality.com is featuring a picture I took this past January while on seminarian retreat at Loyola on the Potomac.

"Risen": The Movie, and the Genre of Christian Films About Jesus

A group of us seminarians saw the movie "Risen" on Saturday night. As is true of the Gospel of Mark, Risen presents its audience with a question, which they must wrestle with throughout the story. The difference, of course, is that Risen begins where the Gospel of Mark ends. The story question that drives the Gospel of Mark is: "Who is this man?" The story question that drives Risen is: "Where is the body?" But even to answer this question implies that one must first answer Mark's question, "Who is this man?"


Before going to the movie I promised a friend that I would try not to analyze the film theologically, instead I would watch it strictly for the story-line. I guess I shouldn't have made that promise because the theological weaknesses, I thought, contributed to the weaknesses in plotting the story.


In many ways this film did not depart from the genre of "Christian films," which often come off as a kind of Hallmark greeting card version of Christianity. They tend to be shallow, on the theological side, and reduce Jesus to a mysterious miracle man. The effect is to produce a story that is somewhat syrupy and superficial, ducking some of the more difficult questions concerning discipleship.


One of the downsides, for me, was how the disciples sometimes came off as '70s-era Jesus freaks. When Bartholomew testifies to the resurrected Christ he comes off as spacey and air-headed, rather than as a sober-minded man who has suddenly had his entire sense of reality turned upside down and is still trying to make sense of what he has experienced. Mary Magdalene, however, was much better portrayed in the film.


It didn't help things that the writers for the screenplay chose to make the miracles the center of the epiphanies in the film. This is a mistake that is common to Christian genre films. It would have been sounder biblically and theologically to focus on the paradox of the "suffering servant" as being the point of epiphany, and it also would have made for a much more interesting story.


Also, there should have been more emphasis on the mystery-element of Christianity. It would have been sounder, theologically and biblically, and it would have added to the sense of mystery, if the epiphanies had occurred after the breaking of the bread, instead of showing the disciples break bread together with no particular meaning other than that it was apparently something they ritualistically decided to do.


Also, the miracles should have occurred within the context of a new teaching, and to punctuate that teaching, instead of being focal points in-and-of themselves. The latter approach suggested that the most persuasive thing about Jesus was that he was an amazing miracle worker, while the metaphors behind the miracles were lost.


There was also very little about the "new creation," or the essential Jewishness of the disciples, or about the confusion and uncertainty among the disciples during the period between the point of crucifixion and the day of Pentecost. These elements would not only have made the story more authentic, they would have added to its depth and made it more interesting. They also would have made it sounder biblically and theologically.


Maybe the screenwriters should have kept the essential story question from Mark, "Who is this man?", at the forefront of their thinking, along with two other Markian story questions, "What does one mean by 'The Kingdom of Heaven'?" and "What is the nature of discipleship?" These questions might have helped them in their portrayal of the miracles and of the resurrected Christ, himself.


I thought the movie began to strike the right chord when the protagonist realized that Jesus knew him better than he knew himself -- and that he encountered, in Jesus, his deepest desires and what he was searching for in life. I thought, however, that this point should have been more fully developed, since it is at the core of what Christians experience in the process of the conversion of their hearts.


I know all of this might sound overly critical, and I don't mean for it to sound that way. Overall I thought the movie was worth seeing, but it followed, too easily, the familiar Christian genre format, which makes all such films thinner and weaker.


But, by all means, go and see the movie. You may want to follow it up by reading the Gospel of Mark in order to get a better sense of the overall story and the message it is intended to convey.

Humanity: To Laugh and to Weep

Pope Francis, on two of the 24 virtues

Spirituality and Humanity:

Humanity “is what embodies the truthfulness of our faith”, what “makes us different from machines and robots, which feel nothing and are never moved. Once we find it hard to weep seriously or to laugh heartily, we have begun our decline and the process of turning from “humans” into something else.”

12/21/2015

Pope Francis and the "Apostolate of the Ear"

"Mostly, people are looking for someone to listen to them. Someone willing to grant them time, to listen to their dramas and difficulties. This is what I call the 'apostolate of the ear,'" 

“It is very important…”


“Very important.”

-- Pope Francis, "The Name of God is Mercy"

Collection of Inspirational Quotes and Images

Follow C Matthew's board Everyone's Catholicism on Pinterest.

How Does a Person "Awaken" to Reality? Ignatian Spirituality and Loyola on the Potomac

Photo Credit: C. Matthew Hawkins

I spent five days last week on retreat, with 11 other Seminarians from St. Mary's, at Loyola on the Potomac near the Chesapeake Bay, a Jesuit retreat center.

The idea of a religious retreat is to prayerfully withdraw from all of the noise, busyness and obsessions of everyday life and to be silent and attentive to the voice of God.

The part of the Potomac that we were located on was a huge expanse of water. I could faintly make out the Virginian landscape on the other side, in a distance. We were on the Maryland side of the river.

Among the experiences that made this retreat one of renewal was the opportunity for Lectio Divina far from shore, alone in a canoe on the Potomac, and praying the Holy Rosary on the 235 acres of woods surrounding the retreat center.

Of course there were recurring questions during the retreat such as these: Where does God want me to be right now? What does God want me to do? What signs do I see of how God is moving in my life?

I have developed a fondness for Ignatian spirituality, for the examen prayer and for St. Ignatius of Loyola (a.k.a. “St. Iggy”) during this trip.

As the retreat began we thought that we were withdrawing from “the real world” into a world of reflection. By the end of the retreat it was clear that we had withdrawn from a world that is all-too-often characterized by madness and delusion and entered into a moment of reality, stillness and clarity, which will fortify us for the journey ahead.