By Dennis Kellogg
Director of Communications
What Father Robert Matya thought was a case of the flu in late March turned out to be septic shock that hospitalized him for weeks and has him in ongoing rehabilitation.
The infection caused him to lose an eye, a toe and required surgery on his hands.
Father Matya, director of the St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and director of vocations for the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, spent three weeks at CHI Health St. Elizabeth before being transferred to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals’ specialized amputation program. He is now back home at the Newman Center rectory and will continue to work on rehabilitation on an outpatient basis.
After starting to feel sick March 26, Father Matya spent about a week dealing with his illness, which he suspected was the flu. When a doctor visited him April 3, he told him he needed to go to the hospital right away.
“I don’t really remember much of that first week in the hospital,” Father Matya said. “I had five surgeries in that first week.”
The seriousness of his illness has become clearer over time.
“In fact, yesterday I went to see Dr. (Timothy) Fischer again and he said, ‘You were probably a day or two from dying. Maybe a day.’ And I had no idea that I was that sick,” Father Matya said. “It was this infection that was trying to take over my body... It wasn’t even on my radar that could be something that was happening to me.”
After his stay at St. Elizabeth, he began his rehabilitation at Madonna. He knew he was in for hard work and some “tough love.”
“My therapist that I had, Kathy, she was awesome,” Father Matya said. “She kind of pushed me – walking and doing stairs and working on the machines. That was all good. Probably what I needed.”
That therapist, Kathy Sievers, PT, NCS, said Father Matya needed to start with the basics and build from there.
“When he first came in, he had the amputation, but he had just been really sick and was very deconditioned, and so...weakness in his legs from just not moving around,” Sievers said. “Just standing up out of the chair was difficult for him at first.”
She said he had to focus on some functional things like standing and walking safely.
Sievers said Father Matya was very focused on the work of getting better.
“He always had a very positive attitude toward recovery. He would be tired but he would still do whatever I asked of him,” she said. “He worked very hard in therapy. I sometimes had to look at his face to know that I needed to give him a little bit more of a break because he wasn’t going to tell me that he needed the break.
“I always found it interesting he always had a ton of visitors and he made time for everyone even though he was tired after a full day of therapy. He welcomed anyone into his room that came to visit him and really appreciated people were taking the time to come see him,” Sievers said.
Father Matya’s determination and positive attitude served him well at Madonna, as did his Catholic faith.
“You know, I’m not sure what it would have been like if I hadn’t had my faith,” Father Matya said. “I start to get emotional when I talk about it because it just changed everything in terms of my outlook, in terms of being able to stay positive... for whatever reason God had me live through this experience. He didn’t take me so he’s got something he wants me to do yet. So, I’m not done here.”
Father Matya said during his health struggles, he leaned on his longtime close bond with St. Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of the Newman Center at UNL. He also called upon the Blessed Mother and drew inspiration from a large painting of the Blessed Mother at Madonna. His Catholic faith gives him hope and confidence as he works to recover.
“One of the ophthalmologists who came to see me when they were telling me that they were going to remove my eye, he said, ‘I don’t understand you, Father. You don’t seem to be super upset by it.’ And I said, ‘Well, it is what it is. What can I do about it? I mean, whether I feel sorry for myself or whether I don’t, it’s going to happen. So it doesn’t really help to feel sorry for myself. I just have to make the best of it and keep trying to move forward each day with God’s grace. That’s what we all have to do and that’s what keeps me going.”
Father Matya said he hopes this experience will make him a better priest.
“I really think one of the things it has done for me is it has made me realize what’s important and what’s not, what kind of just to let go and not to worry about so much. A lot of clarity has come through this experience in that regard.”
His recent health struggles aren’t the only life-changing transition Father Matya is dealing with, either. After 25 years as the director of the Newman Center at UNL, he will soon be leaving to accept a new appointment as pastor of St. Mary Parish in Ashland and St. Joseph in Greenwood.
During his quarter century leading the Newman Center, he oversaw the building of a new church to address the issue of a small worship space that was often overcrowded, and developed a strong partnership with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) organization, among many accomplishments.
While the names and faces of the students at the Newman Center change through the years, he said the thing that has not changed is all students still have important faith needs that need to be met.
“The culture has changed, that’s for sure, and that has impacted them. There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But in terms of who they are as people and what they long for, no, I don’t think they’ve changed. Has the culture made it more difficult for them to find what they’re looking for, or really searching for in their hearts? Yes, it has, to some degree. But all the more reason why we need to be present to them and show them there’s another way than what the culture is telling them there is, because they get miserable pretty fast if they don’t have God.”
When the Church has the opportunity to successfully communicate that message of God’s love to a young person, that is when lives change.
Father Matya said he has seen that through the years with the students at the Newman Center.
“What I see is young people who leave here and go to their parishes and go to different places and they’re having a positive impact in wherever they go in terms of building up the kingdom and the life of the Church. They’re committed and they’re impacting other people’s lives, their peers and drawing others closer to Christ and that’s the way it happens. There’s no other way it happens.”
Father Ryan Kaup has been appointed to lead the Newman Center. Father Matya said Father Kaup understands the mission of the Newman Center, has worked with young people throughout his priesthood, and will do a great job.
Father Matya meanwhile will turn his focus to his new parishioners in Ashland and Greenwood. His message for them?
“Here we go! We’re going to keep trying to do our best to build up that parish and make it a shining light on a hill… and let the truth of Catholicism and the faith be a beacon in those communities.”
Father Matya will begin work in his new parish this summer, while also continuing his ongoing rehabilitation to recover from his illness. He said he is confident prayers will continue to move him forward with his recovery.
“I felt the prayers,” Father Matya said. “It’s been very, very obvious that there’s been a lot of people praying and I’m so, so grateful for that and that’s played a huge part in my getting through this as well and my recovery, so very grateful for all the prayers.”
You can watch a video of the Southern Nebraska Register’s full interview with Father Matya by going to the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln YouTube channel.
Photos courtesy Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital
