BOONE — Five years ago this June, Father Matthew Codd was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Peter Jugis at St. Mark Church in Huntersville. Now pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Boone, the Asheville native Father Codd recently took time to share some insights about himself and his ministry with the Catholic News Herald:
CNH: When did you realize you had a call to the priesthood?
Father Codd: I received my call during my junior year in college, while at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. I had never really considered priesthood before then.
CNH: Where did you attend seminary?
Father Codd: I attended Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Md., for all six years.
CNH: What assignments have you had over the past five years?
Father Codd: I was parochial vicar of St. Mark Church in Huntersville for two years; parochial vicar of St. Aloysius Church in Hickory for one year; and pastor of St. Elizabeth Church in Boone for two years now.
CNH: What do you enjoy most about your priestly ministry?
Father Codd: I enjoy living for God and not for myself, through sacrificing myself for God and the souls He has entrusted to me. Whether that is through preaching, the sacraments, catechesis, or anything else, I simply enjoy living for God as a priest and having that one singular and beautiful purpose.
CNH: What are some of the biggest lessons you have learned over the past five years, especially as a pastor?
Father Codd: There has been an ever-deepening awareness of the depth of both the cross and of the joy of priesthood. So the biggest lesson would probably be how to rely as completely as possible on the wisdom and grace of God.
CNH: What advice would you give to a man discerning a vocation to the priesthood?
Father Codd: I would remind him of the beauty of priesthood and all of its blessings and joys, and that God is so intimately close to those who serve Him in this vocation.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter