Priest reflects on 25 years of memories: hope, comfort, and joy
By Deacon Matthew Hecker, Ph.D.
for the Register
At the April 14 Chrism Mass in the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln, priests marking jubilee anniversaries of their ordination this year were honored, including Father Matthew Vandewalle. He will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood in May.
Father Matthew Vandewalle grew up in Lincoln, the son of Jack and Sandra Vandewalle. He attended Pius X High School, graduating in 1988.
After taking a few years to discern a possible priestly vocation, Father Vandewalle applied for and was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Lincoln. As a collegian, he attended St. Philip’s Seminary in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
After completing his pre-theology studies, he then attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. Father Vandewalle graduated in 1999.
On May 27, 2000, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz ordained him as a priest for Diocese of Lincoln.
The first two years of his priesthood, Father Vandewalle served as assistant pastor at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Plattsmouth. In 2002, Father Vandewalle’s assignment led him back to Lincoln, as assistant pastor at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ. He also held duties teaching theology at his alma mater, Pius X High School.
That year, he was able to return to Canada for World Youth Day. He recalled that he and another diocesan priest even got to run alongside Pope St. John Paul II in the popemobile.
Experiences like that – and the fraternity with fellow priests, which he called a “brotherhood” – are among his best memories of the 25 years of his priesthood.
“Going on both vacations and pilgrimages with brother priests is amazing,” he said, “as well as having brother priests to lean on in time of challenge or struggle.”
In 2005, a subsequent assignment took Father Vandewalle to Saunders County, along the northern border of the diocese. In a position he would hold for nine years, Father Vandewalle served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Colon and its mission, St. Mary in Cedar Bluffs. In addition, he taught theology at Bishop Neumann High School in Wahoo from 2005-2014, gaining further responsibilities in 2011 as assistant principal.
In 2014, a new assignment kept Father Vandewalle in Saunders County in the position he currently holds: pastor of St. John Nepomucene Parish in Weston and its mission, St. Vitus in Touhy. Additionally, Father Vandewalle serves as principal at St. John Nepomucene School.
He enjoys the role greatly, joyfully observing how children spontaneously share thoughts both profound or humorous—and one can never predict which it will be.
“Recently, when talking of the wonders of God’s creation that he gives to us,” Father Vandewalle recalled, “I asked the children, ‘what is the highest of God’s kinds of creatures; the ones who are smartest?’
“While I intended the answer to be humans and angels,” he explained, “one eager young fellow quickly shot his hand in the air, knowing that he must have the perfect answer.”
He called on the boy.
The child’s enthusiastic response?
“Raccoons!”
It’s not only the children who can share humor, Father Vandewalle pointed out. He also loves “having a spontaneous laugh with the faithful at Mass,” he said.
“There are a couple of times where I started laughing with people during a homily to the point of tears and had to recollect myself!” he recalled.
But the quieter moments are also highlights, Father Vandewalle said. He reflected on moments of prayer with the Lord, particularly those where he experienced the complete mercy of God or a new plateau of God’s love, and the love of Mary. And he recalled times when people have expressed great relief in confession through absolution.
He said he has had moments where he had the knowledge of having chosen “my correct vocation.”
“I have appreciated when people have told me exactly that, after they have received some spiritual inspiration,” he said. “And most particularly when helping someone through spiritual counsel, helping them to have hope, comfort, and even joy in their struggles, sorrow or despair.”
