Father Roderick Ermatinger came to St. Matthew’s in fall 2010, after assisting in parishes on Montana’s Hi-Line.

Biography: Father Rod was born and raised in Chicago, growing up in a Catholic family of five children.  His undergraduate education was at Milwaukee’s Marquette University, where he studied law enforcement and English literature.  He went on to study law at the University of Montana Law School, partly choosing this law school for its proximity to outdoor splendor.  He credits his father for instilling in his children a love for the outdoors.  His parents spent many retirement years in Missoula.

It was after a number of years practicing law in Missoula when Father Rod felt his calling to the priesthood emerge.  He entered the seminary in 1998 and was ordained on Christmas Eve 2005 in Rome.

In addition to his year on the Hi-Line, Father Rod also served in New York City, some of it youth work and assisting at parishes.  Now at St. Matthew’s, his work includes religious education in the upper grades at St. Matthew’s School.  He also helped establish Holy Hoops, a boys’ and girls’ intramural basketball tournament that draws St. Matthew alumni, now in high school, as coaches.

What are some of your hobbies?  Father Rod writes:  My hobbies include fly fishing, hunting upland birds and water fowl, as well as big game such as deer and elk.  I also enjoy snowshoeing and cross country skiing, both of which I did for the first time last year.

Who are your favorite saints? Each day I pray to a litany of saints, including St. Joseph, St. John Vianney, St. Padre Pio, and St. John of the Cross.  I have a special devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux.  Yet it is the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom I rely on the most to intercede for me before God.

Thoughts about being at St. Matthew’s:  It is a profound and unmerited privilege to be a priest and to live out my priesthood here at St. Matthew’s.

To read a recent article on Father Rod, please click on this link:

http://www.diocesehelena.org/news-events/mt-catholic/archives/2011/oct/fr-rod-ermatinger.html