Inviting to Mission

Fr. Matt Lowry shares his journey as chaplain of the Holy Trinity Newman Center at Northern Arizona University, where he has led explosive growth both spiritually and financially. He reflects on how his ministry—rooted in prayer, relationship and trust in God’s providence—has transformed from humble beginnings into a dynamic mission field for evangelization. Fr. Matt emphasizes the deep spiritual hunger among college students for beauty, tradition, and authentic encounter, and how presence, personal invitation and incarnational ministry have been key to meeting them where they are. His approach has included both bold vision and day-to-day faithfulness, whether skateboarding across campus or guiding retreats steeped in silence and sacrament.

Fr. Matt also dives into the spiritual side of fundraising, drawing a parallel between inviting someone into relationship with Jesus and inviting them to financially support the mission—it’s the same act of trust and courage. Through stories of sacrificial donors and unexpected blessings, he illustrates how faith and action together fuel mission. Now overseeing a capital campaign and serving as Episcopal Vicar of the North, Fr. Matt remains grounded through daily prayer, mentorship and gratitude. His message is clear: fundraising, like evangelization, begins with mission and continues through relationship, perseverance and a deep trust in God’s timing.

To learn more about the Newman Center’s mission or to support it, visit www.catholicjacks.org.

Guest: Fr. Matt Lowry

Title: Chaplain, Holy Trinity Newman Center

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To contact the podcast, email twb@steiergroup.com.

Transcript

Christopher Beaudet: I'm Christopher Beaudet with the Steier Group. In the Gospel, Jesus fed 5,000 with only five loaves and two fish. After the crowd was satisfied, there were 12 wicker baskets left over. It seems that whenever you and I set to work and do our part, God provides the abundance.

In each episode of this podcast, I'll explore with pastoral leaders and development professionals from across the United States and Canada all the many ways God meets the spiritual and temporal needs of our parish communities, our Catholic schools and the diocesan church and not only meets those needs, but provides in abundance. You're listening to Twelve Wicker Baskets. Thank you so much for joining us today on Twelve Wicker Baskets. My guest is someone with whom you may already be familiar. Fr. Matt Lowry serves as the chaplain of the Holy Trinity Catholic Newman center at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. Ordained in 2008 for the diocese of Phoenix, he has dedicated his priesthood to campus ministry, guiding college students in their faith journeys. Fr. Lowry pursued his theological studies at St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, where he prepared for the priesthood. His academic formation equipped him with a deep understanding of Catholic theology and pastoral care, laying the foundation for his future ministry with young adults. Since 2009, Fr. Lowry has been the full-time director of the Holy Trinity Catholic Newman center at NAU. Under his leadership, the Newman center has experienced significant growth both in outreach and infrastructure. The Center's budget expanded from $180,000 in his first year to over 850,000, reflecting increased engagement and support. Fr. Lowry's commitment to evangelization and community building has been instrumental in this transformation. Embracing modern platforms for evangelization, Fr. Lowry has become a prominent Catholic presence on social media. As the face of Catholic Jacks, the Newman Center's online persona, he shares faith-based content that resonates with young audiences. His engaging videos, which include minute-long homilies and lighthearted dances, have garnered a substantial following. Father Lowry was appointed as the Episcopal Vicar of the north in 2023. In that role, he provides pastoral oversight and support to parishes across the Northern region of the Diocese of Phoenix. Fr. Lowry's vision for the Newman center includes a capital campaign to construct a new church and Newman center facility that will better serve the spiritual and communal needs of NAU students. Fr. Matt, thank you so much for being a guest today on Twelve Wicker Baskets. We're very grateful to spend some time with you.

Fr. Matt Lowry: Thank you, Christopher. Good to be here.

Christopher Beaudet: Father, if you don't mind, maybe you could share with our listeners a little bit about, you know, maybe 30,000 foot view of your, your own journey of faith coming to priestly ministry, and, and the bulk of that being in your current role as serving college students in their walk of discipleship. But a little bit about your own journey of faith, what's brought you to where you are today.

Fr. Matt Lowry: That's great. You know, my family was Catholic and, you know, sent us to Catholic grade school. But it was high school with our youth group where my faith really took off, where I was invited to make a response to Christ and to be involved. It also became something that I could respond to on my own terms, that it wasn't just my family's faith, but I was invited to make it my faith. And we had a new youth minister come to town, Dr. Eric Westby. And he asked me to get involved with confirmation. I'm like, well, I'm really busy. And I think I'd learned in that little moment that when I said yes, when I say yes to the Lord, that somehow time multiplies and I'm blessed by it. And so that experience led me into college where I volunteered for the youth group. And even after college with my degree in engineering, that I noticed that the highlight of my week was volunteering in the church. The relationships formed, the sharing Christ. I'm like, this is the highlight of my week. Wow, that's interesting. And God helped me to be aware of it. And then eventually I was asked to become the youth minister. And I was like, well, I'm an engineer, but. And they're like, we know who you are.

Christopher Beaudet: Right?

Fr. Matt Lowry: We know and we want you. And, and so I was an engineer, I'm sorry, engineer for a year and then youth minister for two years and then just felt called to seminary. And I felt like God said, I, I don't just want all of you. I want, I don't want just part of you. All of you. And I said, Lord, you're all in for me. I, I'm willing to go all in for you.

Christopher Beaudet: Engineering, was that in your family's background or what? What made you interested in that?

Fr. Matt Lowry: My dad was an accountant. He had an accounting degree. My older brother had an electrical engineering degree. And I honestly didn't know what to do. I'm like, I'm good at math and science, I guess so I guess I'll just do that. Computers are cool, so let's just do it. And, and it took me a while for God to help me to realize that my gifts were bigger than just engineering.

Christopher Beaudet: And high school. You said you started claiming the faith on your Own or for. For yourself, especially given your, your experience working with college students, would you say that that kind of owning, taking ownership of your own faith came early for you? Is that something maybe that happens more at college age or later or what are your reflections on that?

Fr. Matt Lowry: Yeah, you know what? I was really touched by Sherry Waddell's book Forming Intentional Disciples, where she talks about how in the faith journey, she noticed that these people would make decisions along the way. And I think the youth group actually gave me a forum where they would say, if you want to make Jesus the center of your life this week, come to the front of the room and bless yourself with holy water. And I'd be like, oh, man, I don't know. Okay, Jesus, I'm going to make you the center of my life this week. But I realized that it was a series of small steps, of small responses, that that made it easier, it gained momentum, and then it was a bigger response, and it made the bigger responses easier because I've already said yes to the Lord a hundred times. I also had positive experiences with things like World Youth Day in 1993 in Denver. I was going into my sophomore year in high school, and. And it just broadened my view that the faith, the church, is so much bigger than just my parish. And it also helped me to realize the going forward, the power of those large group experiences, as well as the power of retreats and things that. Where people can make a response to the Lord and grow in faith.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, I think that's so true. Sometimes people's understanding of the Church goes just the boundaries of their local parish church building. And to realize you're a part of something so large and so unified and yet so diverse that it must have God as the architect behind the whole, the engineer, the divine engineer behind the whole thing. So you've spent. You were ordained when?

Fr. Matt Lowry: I was ordained in 2008.

Christopher Beaudet: 2008. And in all of those years of ministry thus far, you've been in campus ministry for the majority of it, correct?

Fr. Matt Lowry: My first year was I was parochial vicar at a parish in Mesa. And then the bishop said, we need vocations. We need to invest in our young people. And I think before they had said, I can't afford to send a bishop, I can't afford to send a priest to the Newman Center. And then this bishop said, I can't afford not to.

Christopher Beaudet: And you had a vocations director, I presume, for the diocese?

Fr. Matt Lowry: Yes. Yeah.

Christopher Beaudet: Except the bishop understood that a lot of vocations seem to be coming from college or maybe early career of adults. Has that been your experience as well?

Fr. Matt Lowry: Yeah. And, you know, some of the stories anecdotally around the country are you have some Newman centers that send 10 young men to seminary every year. And in the Diocese of Phoenix, we have one of the largest universities in the country. And we're like, we're not, you know, we're not seeing any vocations come out because we're not investing in that. We know. And so then, yeah, so then I was sent to Northern Arizona University and Flagstaff, which hadn't had a priest full time for 11 years. And so we jumped right in.

Christopher Beaudet: But there was a Newman center there already.

Fr. Matt Lowry: There was a Newman center that had. Newman Club had started back in the 30s. And then in the mid-60s, a group of people got together and said, we need to have a building and a facility. And so they were able. They bought some, got some property, donated, raised some money and built a modest facility.

Christopher Beaudet: And that's the facility you inherited, correct? Right. Okay. And we'll talk about how well or to what extent that facility met your growing needs since you've arrived. What would you, you know, you've seen a lot of students. Your, your, your parish family is constantly shifting year to year. New ones coming in and leaving every after four years. What do you see students hungering for the most? And, and how does the Newman Center, Holy Trinity Newman Center, respond to that need?

Fr. Matt Lowry: Well, first of all, I think the human heart is made for God. We all have a God shaped hole. And so I think what I realized along the way was while I have a desire to reach out and connect with these students, God has a bigger desire and God's already at work. And so as I reach out and make myself known and get to know them, there's something within them. Maybe it's very small, like a mustard seed, maybe it's a lot bigger. But there's a desire to get involved. It's amazing. There's one young man, even my first year I saw this young man and he, he was stood out. And so the next, I'm like, the next time I see that guy, I'm gonna ask him to grab lunch. And so I said, hey man, you wanna grab lunch this week? And he said, Father, I was wanting to talk to you. And so that just. And so I've seen a responsiveness this whole time, especially when you treat people with respect. I think people, college students, don't really understand God so much all the time or the church. You know, priests, priestly figures, can seem like aliens to them. And so I spend a lot of effort reaching out and trying to build connections to kind of put them at ease. Because I've heard students say to me, they're like. Some students have never spoken to their parish priest, but many students have said, Fr. Matt, you remembered my name after meeting me once, I went to a school and I was in my parish for 18 years. That priest still doesn't know my name. Anyway, so they respond when we see them, when we know them, we invite them. And so I do think there's, there's a hunger. I also think there's something that surprised me was hunger for the traditions of the church that we. We live in a world that's. That's shifting. Even. Gosh, you could. You. You could. You could be in school with a young woman and then in the fall come back and now she's a man or so like, everything shifting that.

Christopher Beaudet: Right.

Fr. Matt Lowry: That, and politics and, and so they're looking for something stable to build their lives on. And so they actually really are drawn to traditional things. Like these young men, they want to altar serve. They want to wear the cassock and surplus and they want incense, and they want the bells, and, and they want to learn about chant and, and it's just, it's interesting. I was, you know, there's a whole generation of Catholics who are really don't understand that. But you have to understand where these young people are coming from.

Christopher Beaudet: Right.

Fr. Matt Lowry: You know, maybe it's even from their family situations with divorce, and everything's shifting, everything's relative, and they're looking for something solid to build their lives on.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah. Something that's. That's past the test of time.

Fr. Matt Lowry: Yeah.

Christopher Beaudet: How much of that do you think is a, is a yearning for mystery in their lives?

Fr. Matt Lowry: I think there's a yearning for mystery there. Yeah. I think it's the symbolism of it, too. You know, that it speaks to the whole person and it just does something within us. I mean, that's why the church has always had those things. That's why you have beauty, you have mystery. That it speaks to the soul in a way that doesn't, like even, they live on a college campus where everything's, that most spaces are all commercialized now. They're industrialized with, okay, we need thousands of college kids going through here, and they're going to be beating up this place. So we got to make it this really beautiful, and so when something is beautiful and it looks. I don't know, with natural stone and wood and that it just. It feels like home.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah. And I always thought about sacred architecture that is itself beautiful, is. It's clear. Unlike a football stadium, right. At a, at a campus. It's clearly built for a function, a football game. And you don't really go there unless there's a game, unless the function for which it was built is happening. As opposed to a church could be built in a functional way where you'd never go there except for why it was built, or it could be built as a house of God, a dwelling place in our midst for the Most High. And then there's a draw at any moment, at any time, I would think is a sense of God's closeness, proximity to us. I'm wondering if your students have, have experienced that in what you've, what you've built and established there.

Fr. Matt Lowry: Yeah. It is interesting what you're saying, because our, our center right now is very much a community center, and students are coming for community, but they're longing for the transcendent. And so when we first started talking about a new building, it was the students who said, we want traditional. We want a church that looks a church and feels like a church, and it really makes a statement to the campus. And we want to make a building that's so beautiful on the outside that everyone wants to see what it looks like on the inside.

Christopher Beaudet: Right. Yeah. Draws them in. How has your experience working these many years of ministry at NAU? How have you personally grown in, obviously, your priestly ministry to young people guides them in faith and brings the beauty of the faith to them, but how have you grown in your own trust in God and in your mission and in the people he's placed around you?

Fr. Matt Lowry: I am such a different person. When I first arrived, I thought God was sending me here so that I could help these students know God in a deeper way. And I'm realizing that God sent me here so that I could know him in a deeper way. You know? You know, one group that we partner with, FOCUS missionaries, who serve on college campuses, recent college graduates. And they've really, they helped me to see that these college students. We can't just, we can't just open the door and expect people to come that we need to go get them. We need to go on mission. And so the missionaries have helped me to develop a heart for mission. And so now I measure the success of my week, so to speak, by how many times I feel uncomfortable and that I'm out in mission territory where people aren't used to seeing a priest. And I'm making connections there, like, what.

Christopher Beaudet: What would be some of those venues or settings?

Fr. Matt Lowry: So I go, I go eat lunch on campus every Monday and, and I try to find excuses to start, you know, chatting with people around me. I go to all the football games and tailgate and then I stand on the sidelines and I'm wandering around. I purposely wander around and try to just talk to as many people and, and then whenever there's an event where I know the president's gonna be, I show up and I try to shake his hand and just let him know, like, I support you and your mission. And so, yeah, anything, even just walking around campus. You know, the students, they bought me a long board my first year or they made it actually in their garage. And so I'll ride that around campus, and I get more advertising out of 10 minutes on the longboard, thousands of dollars and a paper. And anyways, I just, I'm trying to just… Jesus was sent from the Father to us, and so, and to enter into our world in a way that we could connect with. And so I'm trying to enter into their world in a way that they can relate to. Like, they, they can't. Maybe they don't believe in God or go to church, but they can relate to skateboarding or whatever, you know?

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, right, right. And I would imagine a lot like you said, a lot of folks who did, who grew up in, in the Catholic faith and in their parishes never really knew their priest or felt known by their priests. And to have a relationship with a Catholic priest that is life giving and fun, and natural is probably surprising to a lot of people. They maybe never thought they would have that. And I can imagine how that would be a springboard to, oh, I suddenly now have a relationship with a religious figure that perhaps is an entree to, you know, a religious kind of sentiment of my life that maybe they hadn't thought of before.

Fr. Matt Lowry: I hear that in conversations where people will say, even this young lady recently, like, so what are you going to do? She's like, I don't know, I could do this religious life maybe, but. And she's kind of slipped it in there. And I'm like, I don't, I don't know that she was saying that year, you know, last year or years ago, but it's, it's. And so at the Newman center too, we're trying to invite people to pray, to know the Lord, provide an opportunity. You know, Pope Benedict said when he visited to New York in 2008, young people, if they know how to pray, can be trusted to know what to do with God's will. So I want to teach them to pray and to know the Lord and to listen to his voice, but also to show them that the Christian life is joyful, it's life giving. Christ came to give us life to the fullest anyway, so we make that incarnational. And I also, years ago, I remember having lunch with students and I think I had lunch with them like twice in a week or something. And I was like, wow, these students will probably never be closer to a Catholic priest than we're getting to hang out for a couple hours. And then I realized I'm like, wait, as a Catholic priest, I'm probably never going to be as close to people because if I'm going to parish with 2,000 families and I'm like, this is really a special sacred time of relationship. And so I feel very blessed and gifted. I also think when I showed up at the Newman Center, I had two full time staff members and a couple part time student interns. And I've been a priest for one year. I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. So I started asking questions pretty quickly of okay, how do I do this? Or looking at best practices, talking to other priests, other campus ministries around the country. So I've learned a lot where now I have a new associate. Well, he's been there for a few years now, but I led an offsite and afterwards he looked at me, he goes, how did you learn to do that? And I was like, I didn't leave seminary knowing how to lead a leadership off site or fundraising or how to, how to manage people. It's like you have to learn it along the way, but you have to be willing to learn it.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, exactly. You got to be open to the experiences and they, they form you as much as you want to form others. Which is really beautiful that what's happened in your ministry.

Fr. Matt Lowry: A thought on just growing and learning. Like I, I did the training to be a spiritual director and it's actually, I thought I didn't have time to be a spiritual director. I'm like, I don't have time. That's an hour with one person. I have too many things to do. But then I realized that I can make a life changing impact on one person an hour versus floating like a butterfly around 100 people after an event or something. And it led me to believe that the more I invest in myself, I'm better for every conversation, every confession, every interaction for the rest of my life. And so when I finish that, I've been. More recently, I started working on a master's in counseling. Just. Well, first of all, I feel like a counselor having to listen to these college students issues for the last 16 years. But I was like, I would love to learn more so that I can be even more helpful to them. And so I'm always asking myself, how am I growing? Because anyways, it makes me feel more alive and be better for whatever comes next.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah. One of the principles in our Catholic faith is that grace perfects nature, builds on nature. And I would imagine that in your role, helping a lot of young people through what's really a very transitional time in their life, talk about claiming ownership of your future, and that a lot of the issues or challenges that they're facing may be of a spiritual nature, but many behind that might be an issue or a struggle. Very much of a, how do I say this? Of not necessarily spiritual, but pre-spiritual, natural, just psychological, emotional challenges.

Fr. Matt Lowry: Yeah. Most people who ask for spiritual direction of a priest, they don't need spiritual direction. They just need, like, some counseling.

Christopher Beaudet: They need therapy. Right, right.

Fr. Matt Lowry: They need therapy. They just need a good listener.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah. Yeah.

Fr. Matt Lowry: We used to have that with our parents and our neighborhoods and the lady next door, but we're not seeing that as much. So you're seeing more and more therapists and needed. Because they're the ones trained to do what people just naturally did years ago, I think.

Christopher Beaudet: So you said prayer. I Love Pope Benedict XVI's line that you mentioned, that prayer really equips us to receive and execute, fulfill the will of the Lord in our lives. What are some of the biggest challenges that you're experiencing when you say you're teaching kids to pray, these young adults to pray. What are some of the building blocks that you find most common as missing that you need to help them with?

Fr. Matt Lowry: Well, first is this generation is not accustomed to silence, that there's kind of constant noise from the time people wake up. You know, even I'll go to the gym and try to just start talking to students. And they're like, oh, hold on a second, let me take out my air buds, you know, my headphones, earbuds out, so they can have a conversation. So it's, and so they're not able. They're not attuned to listen to the voice of the Lord. And so we try to create spaces of silence. We do exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and we've noticed that when we offer adoration, we see between three and four times as many students come through the doors. And so when they say so, we try to offer that on our retreats that we offer, we make time for silence. That's one thing. We also, we want to teach them how to pray in adoration. So we have a little prayer guides and things in the chapel, but we offer adoration on the retreats. Bible studies are really big where we're at helping people to dive into the Word. We'll do things like we'll hand out cards during Advent and Lent where it gives them a scripture verse every day to pray with. And we'll even send them a text message with, with a scripture verse. And so trying to just keep that in front of them. We really want them to pray with scriptures. As St. Augustine says, when I pray, I talk to God. When I read Scripture, God talks to me.

Christopher Beaudet: Right, right. I love that. Yeah. And what kind of retreat opportunities do you provide students?

Fr. Matt Lowry: We do what's called the Awakening Retreat. It was based off the Cursillo started in Texas. Although we actually change it every semester. We just make little modifications. And it used to be a three day retreat and we made it into two day. Anyways, but stepping aside from their normal day lives, getting with some of their peers, where they hear a testimony from their peer and we start the retreat right away where everyone, they're probably thinking we're the Holy Rollers and they're the ones, they're like, I don't have faith. And so with the testimonies that they hear that wow, these people are struggling with the same things that I've struggled with. But how did they get to where they've got joy and peace now? And, and so then there's different activities. We actually have a few breakout sessions where they can choose. Do you want to go learn about the chapel to Divine Mercy? Do you want to learn about Stations of the Cross? Do you want to learn about the rosary? There's basic things that have been in our tradition, but they've maybe never done that or, or done it like on their own. Maybe their parents dragged them sometime, but now they feel like they have a choice. Well, no, I'm going to go learn about whatever, the rosary. And anyway, so that's, that's some of what we do there.

Christopher Beaudet: I love it. I was going to ask you this too. Like sometimes, you know, all the noise that you talked about, all of the messaging, the presumption of a different gospel that's out there that seems to be so convincing and maybe people, in an unthinking way, just subscribe to it and ascent to that. There's voices out there that have a vision of the human person, the purpose of human life, the purpose of how human beings relate one to another in institutions like marriage or just in other relationships, and that the Church offers the voice of the Lord and the Gospel and proclaims it. That can be very much at odds at times with that. How much, if you could. I don't know if this is an easy question to answer or not, but I wonder how much of. When young people or when college students find themselves a bit distanced from the Church, how much of that is just. They haven't been invited. It's a question of relationship, of feeling welcomed. And how much of that is, I don't believe, what the Catholic Church teaches. Does that make sense?

Fr. Matt Lowry: Yeah, I actually think people start with the latter here, of, if I were to pick a random student and invite them, they'd say, I don't know if I believe in God. I definitely don't believe what the Catholic Church teaches. And so, yeah, that's where the average young person is. I would actually say even a lot of.

Christopher Beaudet: And by the way, when we say that what the Catholic Church teaches, more or less, we're talking about sexual morality, right?

Fr. Matt Lowry: That's, that's probably the biggest one that stands out. Sexual morality. What is the human person, but also morality in terms of, like, life, like abortion. Those are. I think, if you wanted to be specific about topics that I hear that, you know, that, you know, the church hates gays and/or that, you know, or they're down on transgender people, and, and that, you know, the church doesn't respect women's reproductive rights. So that's some of the language you might hear. But what I found is here's a question for you, like, just. I'll say it rhetorically and then answer, but how is it that people change their minds? You know, you might say, how do, how do people change their hearts? Well, okay, that's the Holy Spirit. But how do people change their minds? Well, they have to choose to change it. They have to get there on their own. And so, if you have a homily and the priest is like, well, I talked about this in a homily, or parents are like, we've taught you what's right. It's a lecture from the outside in. But people change their minds from the inside out. And so what I've learned from working with college students, conversion happens when I sit and someone said, well, I don't really believe what the church teaches. And I'm like, oh, well, it sounds like you feel very strongly about that, and you have thought about this. Tell me what that means. Tell me more about that. Or. Well, I think, you know, I believe in reproductive rights or whatever. And it's like, oh, like a right to what? You know? And, and so I've become better and better at asking questions and, and, and showing young people that I actually want to hear what you think, right? Like, I don't have all the answers, but I want to understand you. I want to see you and know you and understand you. And as you ask them questions, they've actually never thought about it because what they're most often doing is regurgitating the sound bites they've heard.

Christopher Beaudet: Right. That's what I was saying. Yeah.

Fr. Matt Lowry: But when they process it, they get to the conclusion of like, wow, I guess I've never really thought about that before, you know, I guess that that makes sense, you know, anyways. And so, and so taking that, so it's very time intensive, but it takes, takes that time. Those conversations where young people can, can start to change and start to open up and then they're more receptive to what you have to say.

Christopher Beaudet: Right.

Fr. Matt Lowry: And then I don't, I don't just give them the fire hose at that point. But I just, I said, well, here's a couple principles or thoughts you might think more about, you know, and it starts a process. I'm not trying to answer every question in that conversation. I'm trying to continue a relationship and, yeah.

Christopher Beaudet: And maybe invite or create more questions than, than they've asked thus far.

Fr. Matt Lowry: Yes.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, yes.

Fr. Matt Lowry: And then I think it shows them that the Catholic Church has actually thought a lot about this and we've got some really answers and thought, yeah, really thousands of years. It is fun whenever these students come with these big questions. I'm like, you know, we've been thinking about this for 2000 years here. Check out this website. You know, go to catholic.com or do this or…

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, I love it. How do you balance being a priest, campus minister. You've led capital campaigns, which we'll talk about here in a moment after a break, but social media creator, you're an Episcopal vicar in the Diocese of Phoenix, I believe. How do you balance all of that without burning out? What's your secret there?

Fr. Matt Lowry: One word: priorities.

Christopher Beaudet: Priorities.

Fr. Matt Lowry: So the idea is we're called to love God with our heart, mind, soul and strength, and then to love our neighbor as we have loved ourselves. That the way I, one way to interpret that is I've got to take care of my yard and my room before I can go help my neighbor take care of their yard, and got to do my homework first, and then I can help someone with their homework. And so for me it's, it's being clear about that. So it's, you know, praying a holy hour every single day, going to mass. Yeah. Other prayers, exercise, sleep, eating, talking to mentors. It's funny, the older I get, the more mentors I have. Like when I was younger is when I really, really needed, right now, I, now I realize I need them and I'm open to them and I seek them out. So I have my counselor, my spiritual director, I have a Catholic priest coach, I've got my primary care physician and my physical therapist. And there was a time when I wasn't really exercising because I felt like I couldn't afford the time to exercise. And then I realized, well, no, I can't afford not to. That's where I'm at now. And especially how was all those things God or so prayer, exercise, sleep, eating, talking to mentors, those are all life-giving activities. And so as I prioritize those, it actually gives me more energy and time. So it feels to be able to do all those other things. But also by putting prayer first, I'm able to discern is this from God or not? Is there peace and is there conviction about this? Another thinking is the, I don't know, gratitude is just another word I put out there. Like, why did I even agree to do this podcast? Like, I got all sorts of stuff, why am I gonna sit here for an hour? And what, and for me it is like gratitude. Like I've been blessed by my relationship with the Steier group and how other people have invested in me and if I can add value in some way to other people, like, I just, I'm so grateful for how God has blessed me that everything I do is simply sharing the blessings I've been given. My life, my time, everything is a gift. And I want to put that at God's service. And so let him guide that. And when I, I, I think there's always time for the Lord's will. And so when I get down my list of priorities and suddenly there isn't enough time for whatever those things are, well then that wasn't God's will. And so I, I just take a breath and move forward.

Christopher Beaudet: Move forward. Well, I'm grateful that you discerned in prayer to spend some time with us. And you mentioned your partnership with the Steier Group. I want to take a brief break right here, but maybe when we come back, talk a little bit more about, you know, fundraising development work, your role, kind of inviting people to be generous with resources to help fund and bring to fruition your vision and mission for all of the people that we've talked about. So please don't go anywhere. Stay with us. I am speaking with Fr. Matt Lowry, who is a chaplain at Holy Trinity Newman center at Northern Arizona University. We'll be right back.

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Christopher Beaudet: Thanks for staying with us. I am talking to Fr. Matt Lowry from Northern Arizona University, the Newman center there. And Father, we talked about your ministry these past several years among college age students who are seeking truth, seeking beauty, seeking peace, and the ways that you've extended the invitation to maybe bring questions to the Lord, to fill that God sized hole that they experience in life. But you've also brought the Newman Center and this ministry quite a ways since you first inherited it. And I think when you first arrived, you had an older building, you had a struggling budget, but you had a vision for the ministry among these folks at the Northern University of Arizona. What, what gave you the conviction to grow this and, and keep going and to persevere? Helping to, to grow the Catholic Jacks Newman center budget from I think it was like $180,000 originally to over 850,000. What were some key moments along the way? What was your mindset or approach to stewardship and fundraising over these years to, to grow this?

Fr. Matt Lowry: Well, in full disclosure, as probably many priests and staff members feel, when I first got there, I had no idea what I was doing. I'm like, I've been a priest one year. I don't know. I actually. You said vision. I'm like, my only vision is I know I need to pray every day, and then God, you got to show me what to do here. And I think it was what God has done is he. He just. He. He said, focus on what's in front of you. Which sounds so overly simple, but, well, we had students who started coming to daily mass, and. And then our mass time was conveniently right before lunch. And I'd be like, hey, you want to grab lunch? And so three times a week, I'm going over to the union with this group of like, four to, like, 12 students. And so those students, like, to this day, probably the ones I know the best, because I was hanging out with them multiple times each week and investing in them, where then they became the student leaders who had a heart to reach other students. I said, well, I need you to have reached them. I need you to invite them, because I don't know them. So then they started being empowered as missionary disciples to invite other students to come. And so then we started to grow.

Christopher Beaudet: This is sounding a lot like the Lord with twelve apostles.

Fr. Matt Lowry: Yep, yep. And we didn't have much money. You know, the first year we had in to make the budget work, Whoever did the budget before I showed up, we were supposed to fundraise $85,000, and we only fundraised $25,000. And I was like, whoa, what happens now? Who shuts us down? Like, what happens? But the reason we are able to make that work is we were a mission of the local parish. And so, they weren't happy about it, but they absorbed the loss. And I was like, oh, this is not good. What do we do? And so we did little things. Like the building was kind of, was really run down, so we did a cleanup day. And so then I met a bunch of volunteers who'd showed up. And I'm like, oh, you care about this place? So I started building relationships with them. And then when spring break came, I was like, well, this. We need to do something here. We need to paint. This place hasn't been painted in years. And so I announced. I said, hey, I need some volunteers. If you're going to be here for spring break, I could do some help, which. Which in a beautiful way, really built a bunch of relationships with the people who volunteered. And, like, now I'm getting to know people. And then one guy, he. After Mass, he goes, here. He wrote me a check for a thousand dollars. And I was like, oh, my gosh, like a thousand bucks. Like, thank you. And by God's grace or whatever, I had the wherewithal to say, I need to know this guy if he can write me a check for a thousand bucks just from a mass announcement. And so I started building a relationship where nowadays, he's, well, his, his son was actually a student there at the time. His son has since graduated. And he, at one point, in a critical moment, he was like, you know, my son graduated. I'm moving on. But again, I was like, I met with him. I was like, I need your support. You care about this mission. You care about young people. And so now he gives a thousand dollars a month, and he's given 300,000 to the capital campaign.

Christopher Beaudet: Wow.

Fr. Matt Lowry: It just. That relationship grew. So that's a starting point of how we started. But over time, we're like, where are we going with things? How are we doing this? Where's our future leading us? And eventually, what helped me get there was building a board that was kind of more of like a development board, but an advisory board. And one of the people was the former president of the university. I was able to get on my board, and he's the one who said, you need a new building, you need a new Neumann Center. That's your number one priority. And I was like, well, that's a high priority. My number one priority is the person standing in front of me. But I need to be thinking ahead to the long term. And so that changed my focus of how do I plan for the long term and focus on what's right in front of me?

Christopher Beaudet: Right. Simultaneously, yeah. You know, a lot of pastors, a lot of priests find fundraising intimidating or maybe even distasteful. They have a hard time finding a place in a sacred ministry. Sacraments, preaching, evangelization, they see those things clearly and obviously as priestly and proper. But providing a holy order, providing administrative work, relationship engaging for the purposes of development, that is not always perceived in the most positive, positive light. And you've talked about having developed an ability to do some of the hard things. You mentioned earlier about how often am I out of my comfort zone and engaging people? What would you say to priests now, pastors maybe, or maybe even other fellows, priests in university or college ministry, having been in the trenches and seen the fruit of people's generosity, what would you say now, having gone through campaigns and all of the fundraising work that you've done, maybe some things you've learned?

Fr. Matt Lowry: Well, first of All I get it, as priests, it's uncomfortable to step into that tension and say, would you consider a gift of $2,500 so that more students here can know Christ and have their lives changed? What I learned a lesson from the FOCUS missionaries. They have to do their own fundraising. And what they've seen, or I don't, yeah, I don't know if they made the connection or I saw it myself, that these young people, if they struggle to ask people into the mission financially, they also struggle to invite students into the mission spiritually. So it's actually the same muscle to invite someone to know Jesus and to invite someone to make a gift. And so if priests are not financially out there or out there inviting people to make gifts financially, I would wonder, and they have to, to examine their own conscience. How much are they inviting people in to know Jesus, to step into the tension? And I'm not talking about a mass announcement. I'm talking about one on one, inviting somebody. Would you consider doing this? Would you consider praying scripture every day for the next week? Or would you consider making Jesus the center of your life, not just part of your life? It's the same muscle. And so I'm like, I actually want to get better at that. I want to get better at discipleship. And part of my practice has been inviting people to make gifts financially. But where I've come to is I feel so blessed by the conversations and relationships with these people who are so generous. This one couple, this is not my best moment, but it changed my life. I'm meeting with this couple and I said, would you consider a gift of $100 a month so that more students can know Christ? And he says, well, as you know, Father, I lost my job a month ago. Hmm. But we trust God. Let's do it. And I felt like a tool. I was like, I felt like a jerk. This guy, I didn't make the connection, like, he just lost his job and I'm asking him for money, right? And instead, he gave me an incredible witness of trust in God's providence and goodness. And I was like, I want to be able like him, to be able to trust in God's providence even when I don't have the resources. And so, it showed me that just because people have money doesn't make them generous. But some of the most generous people out there are people who have very little money. Anyways, so, I'm constantly impacted by the faith of the people I sit down and talk to. I've also gotten better at the ask where I Have a lead in question. No one really taught me this. I think I just kind of. Maybe someone. I'm sure someone did, where if I'm meeting with someone, you talk, you talk and. And then you say. I heard you say that you really love your faith and you're worried about this next generation. I know that you want to help more of these students know Christ. Are you willing to be a part of this mission financially? And then most people are like, yeah, I'll be a part of that financially. And then you come with a specific ask. Would you consider a gift of $2,500 a year for the next three years so that more students can come to know Christ? Christ.

Christopher Beaudet: Right. You know, it's. It strikes me that both that evangelical spirit to reach out and bring people to Christ and that development spirit to reach out to people, invite them to support the mission, they're both ultimately about mission. It's the same thing, really. It's not the same muscle for two different, you know, priorities. They're just two ways of advancing mission. Because we always stress this, too, when we invite people to be generous, we are inviting them to live out their own nature the way we are formed in the image and likeness of a God who gives. You know, it's a joy, it's a gift to give. So inviting people to pray and inviting people to give are very, very similar at the end of the day.

Fr. Matt Lowry: Yeah. A book of Acts says what Jesus words of is more blessed to give to receive.

Christopher Beaudet: Right.

Fr. Matt Lowry: And there's something about, you know, you've probably heard the analogy of, you know, the difference between the lake, the Sea of Galilee, and the Dead Sea. This. Both. Both seas have an input, but only the Sea of Galilee has an output. So the water comes in and then goes out, and it's very life giving. It's green, there's, you know, fish and all sorts of stuff. The Sea of the Dead Sea has an input, but there's no output. And I think I see that too with some of our young people, but maybe all people, this attitude of entitlement, give me, give me, give me. But people really become alive when they start to give.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah, that's spot on. So speaking of giving, I know you partnered with the Steier Group to successfully start a new fundraising effort a few years ago to build a beautiful, beautiful Newman center for the programming there on campus for students. And you've continued forward with additional fundraising since that campaign. How are you keeping the team inspired and the mission front and center on that project?

Fr. Matt Lowry: It's hard. You can get discouraged. Because the thing that discourages me most is my timeline where I become attached to. Here's what I think needs to happen by this date, or I think this person can give me this much. But all that's in my head. It's not necessarily the Lord's will. And I want to have a freedom to trust in God, to say, God, your will be done in your manner. And so it really means staying focused on prayer and then kind of encouraging the team at different times, which means I need to find my places of encouragement. I actually had a conversation where I was talking to a fundraiser, and I think I said something, and he stopped me. He goes, father, stop right there. He goes, if you, as the leader become discouraged, were all gone. I need, Father, you, you need to get, you need to do what you need to do so that you do not become discouraged. And he called me to the carpet, and I was. And I praise God for that moment where I was like, dang it, you're right.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah.

Fr. Matt Lowry: So I had to examine my own heart of what do I need to do so that I can be renewed in hope? Like, what's. What's stealing my joy? What's, what's leaving me discouraged? Because, Bishop Olmsted said this, he said the greatest diabolical temptation is discouragement, where we lose heart and we stop persevering. And so I had to examine my heart of, like, I need to go pray. I need, I need a desert day away just to pray with the Lord. I need to find my people that can give me a pep talk. Like, who are those people that encourage me? Maybe they're fundraisers. Maybe they're other priests. Maybe they're from other diocese. Like, I, I, you know, it's like, in my yard, I might be discouraged, and people might want to come help me in my yard, but I have to invite them in. I have to reach out and make it known that I need some help. And so that helps. That's helped me to be in a better. So really, my annual retreat, things like that. Actually, my annual retreats, is what's kept me going. Because I go in there like, God, what are you doing? But by the time I leave, I say very simply, Jesus, I trust in you. Thy will be done. But it takes a week of prayer to get me there again.

Christopher Beaudet: Sure. And that kind of capital campaigns are marathons, not sprints. And so you talk about perseverance and not become discouraged. I think that's a common experience that you're so excited for the vision that you're trying to bring about. And you may think this family or that individual is going to be able to provide a huge gift to give the whole thing. Momentum that may come through, it may not. But then there are other surprises. People whose generosity comes from a place that you wouldn't have realized they had that capacity or had that interest. And so I think those are little reminders to those of us in this line of work that it really is about mission. And the apostles didn't know how they were the whole theme of this podcast. The apostles didn't know how they were going to feed the thousands with just some, you know, loaves and fish, and. And it was done with an abundance left over. So I appreciate your sharing a lot of the stories that you've experienced along those lines, both from students about your own faith life and also from donors. And for those who, you know, financially support, even if in the face of losing work, giving not only because one's able, but giving as a sign of their own trust in the one who gives everything. It's really, really beautiful. Any other thoughts about the Newman Center? Anything you want people to know about as we close out?

Fr. Matt Lowry: Well, I think thinking back on what, you know, priests or other people that aren't about fundraising is like, you need money to fuel the mission, and so, first of all, you have to lead with what's the mission, and then we need funding to do that, and here's the resources we have. Yeah. I also think action helps that. That I can get, we can get pulled in so many directions as, as priests and, you know, staff and the parish. And so keeping the goal in front of us, keeping people around us who help us stay focused on that, helps us just keep persevering. I do have one story. I don't know if you're gonna ask me about my own twelve wicker baskets moment or whatnot.

Christopher Beaudet: Yes. You've shared some already, so I didn't want to, need to, explicitly, but absolutely. What has been a twelve wicker baskets experience for you?

Fr. Matt Lowry: One moment stands out is a bunch of moms stand out. But one was several years ago, the focus conference was in Florida, and my team got together and we're like, man, that's really far from Arizona, and yeah, people hadn't really flown before. Usually they always took buses and stuff, and they said, we want to take a hundred people. I was like, holy moly. I was like, how are we going to do this? And I said, well, that's like a thousand bucks each. We're like, how Are we going to do that? We said, well, what if we did this? What if we fundraised half? I was like, you want. We have to fundraise $50,000. I'm not talking about my budget, like my annual budget. We're talking about a special project above and beyond. But I was considering. Convinced. I was convinced. I was like, this is when. If I can get people to this conference, just like getting people to the retreat, like the Holy Spirit does the rest, you know? And so we're sitting in this, in my office, myself and my four Focus missionaries and. And who are like, this goal is in front of us of $50,000. I was like. I was like, man, I. Knowing. And I know that I have to fundraise at that time, probably 300,000 a year for the Newman Center. I was like, oh, my gosh. How am I going to do this on top of that? And yes. And all of a sudden, the Focus Team director, he said, you know what? Everybody do something. And I was like, what do you mean? He's like, we can't just sit here in this office. We gotta go do something. Everybody go do. So everybody call somebody right now. I was like, wait, what? What am I calling them for? What? He's like, just. Just call somebody. And I was like, this is crazy. So we all, like, broke up.

Christopher Beaudet: Did he work for Nike? Just do it.

Fr. Matt Lowry: That's right. And so we called and I called somebody, and we got back to. I think I called somebody and set up a meeting or something, and we got back together, and this girl, one of the missionaries said, one of my mission partners is going to give us $5,000. And I was like, oh, my gosh. We ended up fundraising over 50,000, and we brought 112 students to Florida. And everybody at the time was like, who's NAU? Like, where did they come from? You know? And it just taught me. What it taught me in that moment was that sometimes you got to step out of the boat and trust that the Lord's going to catch you. That when Jesus asks, you know, what do you have? And they're like, all we have is five loaves and two fish. Like, he wants them to do something. They need to move, you know, do something, and trust that the Lord's going to bless that. I mean, you want to be. Be. You want to have vision and be, you know, be about the right things, but sometimes you just need to do something. And for me, it's getting in front of people. The hardest thing is. Well, the most important and hardest thing with fundraising is sitting in front of somebody, you know, setting up the meetings, getting there, and then when you do that, God does incredible things.

Christopher Beaudet: Amen. Absolutely. And that's, that's what you continue to see. So where is the fundraising project now for your new Newman Sacrifice center?

Fr. Matt Lowry: We're about 70% of the way there to goal. The goal is 25 million. And yeah. So we just keep persevering and it's hard. We're waiting for that angel to show up. But God says, meanwhile, like the rest of us, we have to keep putting in our two coins and doing the work and trusting that his timing and providence will be perfect.

Christopher Beaudet: Yeah. His generosity cannot be outdone. Well, thank you so much, Father Matt, for spending some time with me here on Twelve Wicker Baskets and for your own twelve wicker baskets experiences and for the good work that you're doing in, in bringing people to the Lord and the Lord to, to people there at Northern Arizona University. Now, a few more people through this podcast have heard of NAU, so that that's a good thing. But thank you for, for your generous ministry. Very grateful.

Fr. Matt Lowry: Thank you for your time, Christopher.

Christopher Beaudet: I want to thank Fr. Matt Lowry for graciously agreeing to be our guest this month and for his insights on how the muscle needed to invite people into a relationship with Jesus. And the muscle needed to invite people to give generously in support of mission is one and the same muscle. His experience has shown that changing mind does indeed come from the inside out.

Christopher Beaudet: An important reminder for all of us on how we are called to invite others into relationship. If you're interested in learning more about Holy Trinity Newman Center at Northern Arizona University, visit www.catholicjacks.org. If you haven't yet subscribed to our podcast, please do and share it with colleagues and friends. For our Canadian listeners, we wish you a happy Canada Day. And for our US listeners, a very happy Fourth of July. See you again next month here on Twelve Wicker Baskets.