For friar Matthew Malek, OFM Conv., encounters are part and parcel of his ministry as a priest-friar, and as a counselor in training. Friar Matthew has been working on certification as a counselor after completing a Masters program through St. Mary’s University. During his studies, friar Matthew assisted in various parishes in the Saint Paul-Minneapolis area as a sacramental minister. One of the parish communities he often served was the Church of the Risen Savior in Burnsville, MN.

“Risen Savior,” as the community is known to people in the area, is a vibrant parish with a large Anglo and Spanish-speaking population. In October of 2021, the Risen Savior community was rocked to its core by the tragic death of their new pastor, Fr. Denny Dempsey, who was killed by a motorist while riding his bicycle. Fr. Dempsey had served as a missionary in the Archdiocese’s mission in Venezuela prior to coming to Risen Savior and the community there was so looking forward to having a pastoral leader who would be an effective shepherd to both the Anglo and Spanish-speaking communities.

Friar Matthew was quick to offer his help, not only as a sacramental minister but as a trusted leader to guide the community through their overwhelming grief. He listened to the pain and the anger of parishioners as they attempted to find some resolution to this terrible situation. “I began to engage the community in grief work,” friar Matthew said, “I began with the parish staff and then branched out to having listening sessions for the greater community. This traumatic incident brought to the fore the unresolved traumas that some of the parishioners had previously experienced.”

So much of ministry is “showing up,” and friar Matthew “showed up,” in ways great and small. “I found myself at the parish five or six days a week. The community had a hunger to have someone lead them, a shepherd, so to speak. People sought me out for individual counseling and support.” Friar Matthew’s efforts at engaging the Risen Savior community in grief counseling did not go unnoticed by the Archdiocese, whose Vicar General begged the then minister-provincial, friar Wayne Hellmann, to assign friar Matthew as pastor of Risen Savior. (Friar Matthew now serves as Administrator of the parish with the intention of making him pastor in the summer of 2024.)

Friar Matthew, in dialogue with the parish staff and other leaders, has begun to explore ways to bridge the gap between the Anglo and Spanish-speaking communities. “The sense that I get from the parishioners is `We’re going to be ok. We have a shepherd now and everything will be all right.’”

“It’s been a graced period of my life to embrace this ministry,” Friar Matthew mused, “one of the things that I am proud of as a friar is our willingness to walk out on the ledge, to take risks. Like St. Francis, we don’t know where all of this is going to lead us, but we’re willing to take that chance. St. Francis drew his strength from his faith in God and in his brothers and that’s a good model for all of us.”