“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”
After a few months of diaconate in Brazil, in our Apostolic School (small seminary), I gradually entered into the reality of the priestly ministry in service of Christ and His Church. The relationship between these two dimensions of priestly service is particular. On one hand, he celebrates for the faithful, for the Church and for Christians who form the Body of Christ, and on the other hand, he is completely oriented towards Christ, with whom he identifies himself during His sacrifice.
It is sometimes difficult, but so important, never to tire of living the sacraments – as a priest or deacon – for the Church and the faithful and, at the same time, to continue to live them as an intimate and personal union with Christ. The priest is neither a liturgical service provider nor a mystical figure united to Christ and detached from the world. He is alter Christus pro Ecclesia : identified with Christ for the good of the Church.
This reality, which begins with the diaconate, will be all the more tangible from my priestly ordination. And I hope, by the grace of God, to always be thus halfway between God and men, truly human and deeply spiritual, with my feet and hands on the ground, and my heart turned towards heaven.
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Father Matthieu Boo d’Arc is 30 years old and has two brothers and two sisters. He has been involved with ECYD since the age of 11, then spent two years at the Apostolic School of Méry-sur-Marne between 2004 and 2006. After completing his baccalaureate in Ars at the Marcel-Van Youth Center in 2007, he entered the novitiate in Italy (2008-2010) and then completed his classical studies in Spain between 2010 and 2012. He then continued his studies in Rome, earning a license in philosophy from 2012 to 2015, followed by three years of apostolic internship in Mexico, working at a school of the congregation and within the ECYD of the city. He returned to Rome in 2018 to begin his theology studies. Fr. Matthieu is currently an educator at the Apostolic School of Curitiba (Brazil).
A phrase from the Our Father has always served as a guide for him during these recent years: “ Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. ” (Mt 6:10)
