JONESBORO — To some people he looks like a college student. But for those who know him, he is their parish priest.
Father Matthew Garrison serves three churches in northeast Arkansas: Blessed John Newman University Parish at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, St. Mary Church and School in Paragould and St. Joseph the Worker Church in Corning.
To his collegiate parishioners, he is another guy, easy to relate to. When the students see him, he usually is dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, instead of the clerical black shirt, pants and Roman collar. To the students, he is not the average priest.
On most Mondays, “Father Matt” rises up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym. He returns for prayer time and breakfast. He goes to St. Mary Church to celebrate Mass with the grade-school children and then completes whatever needs to be done in the parish for the bulletin or the parish. He often goes to ASU for lunch with the Catholic Newman Center students and then to the center for the rest of the day.
He said his high school friends did not believe he would ever become a priest.
“I wasn’t really rebellious,” the 31-year-old said. “I loved to have fun. All my friends in high school were either Baptist or Church of Christ; very few were Catholics. I didn’t go to high school with the people I went to church with. None of my plans had to do with the priesthood. When I got out of high school, my intentions were to become an electrical engineer and that was what my friends expected.”
He said he knew God’s plan was for him to join the priesthood.
But that road was not always easy for him. At one point, he decided to take a break from the seminary.
“I needed to step back and listen to God’s call from a different perspective, from a different angle. And make sure that I was doing exactly what he was calling me to do,” he said.
Father Garrison said about three weeks after leaving seminary, he was working on a construction site and a man pulled up so he could load his truck. The trucker asked Father Garrison if he was a preacher, and it startled him. Father Garrison got in the truck and explained to the trucker what was going on. The next day the same thing happened with a different trucker.
Father Garrison knew then that God had his attention; he was going to go back to seminary and become a priest.
He was ordained on May 29, 2004. Father Garrison said his favorite moment was during one of his first Masses as a priest. In the middle of the Mass, he said it finally hit him that he was a priest, and he started laughing.
Catholic Newman Center parishioners have loved Father Garrison since he arrived in Jonesboro in 2005.
ASU student Gina Billeaudeau said, “He makes everyone feel comfortable. He gives you a feeling of comfort like you could tell him anything.”
“He’s real. He’s easy to relate to,” said Jonathan Brandenburg, assistant campus minister. “He gives you stuff that really helps. He’ll have a real conversation with you. He’ll devote time to that person.”
Brandenburg said his favorite moment with Father Garrison was during the sacrament of reconciliation because he was both challenging and gentle.
The CNC students said they like their chaplain because he acts like them, and he is a refreshing face among the many older priests who are in the Diocese of Little Rock.
They also love when he brings his dog, Baruch, to church.
Father Garrison said he hopes when people meet and talk with him that they take away that he always tries to live the Gospel. He hopes people will see Christ through him. He refers to words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi as his motto: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.”
