My Vocation: Matthew Lewis

My name is Matthew Lewis and I have been a practising Catholic for twenty years. I became a Catholic at the age of 16, studied Religious and Moral Studies as one of my A-Levels and then went on to do a degree in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Bristol.

I considered whether I had a vocation to the priesthood when I was in my late teens but at the end of my degree I felt led to become a Religious Education teacher. My future wife and I also decided to marry. I have been an RE teacher for fourteen years and am now the Subject Leader of Religious Education at Saint Simon Stock Catholic School in Maidstone (in the photo on this page I am standing in front of the carving showing the Scapular Vision of Saint Simon Stock in our school entrance hall).

For me, being an RE teacher in a Catholic school is a great privilege. I am able to earn a living and serve God in a very direct way. I feel that the particular gifts I have are fitted to this work and that I am in a very real sense living out my vocation at this time in my life. It seems providential to me that I live in a town with a Carmelite parish and teach Religious Education at a school with close ties to the Carmelites and Aylesford Priory.

The other big part of my vocation, of course, is as a husband and father. In fact, this should have been the thing I mentioned first as I believe it is the most important vocation that most of us have. To live in fidelity in marriage and to create a loving and safe home for children is following to first commandment given by God in scripture: ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ Gen 1:22