Schools
EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Father Matt Litak, Class Of 2006
The recently named pastor at St. Catherine of Alexandria Church in Oak Lawn remembers EPCHS as "a welcoming and warm place."
EVERGREEN PARK, IL — As a priest in the Catholic faith, Father Matt Litak knows the importance of making his church a “welcoming and warm place.”
The recently appointed pastor at St. Catherine of Alexandria Church in Oak Lawn used the same phrase in describing his high school alma mater, Evergreen Park Community High School.
“I am very happy with Evergreen Park Community High School and the education I received there,” said Litak, a member of the Mustang Class of 2006.
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Staff members he remembers the most include Mr. David Boersma and Dr. Beth Hart, who was principal at the time.
Having attended St. Bernadette for grammar school, Litak said EPCHS was “a natural fit” for him to attend high school.
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“It was a block and a half from where I grew up,” he said.
But while Litak said he “always had an inkling” toward the priesthood, it wasn’t until he was enrolled in college at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois, when he knew for certain that would be his path.
“I was an English major in college and wanted to be a teacher, but I met people in college who developed my prayer, and I had a strong prayer moment in college that led me that way,” Litak said.
Benedictine is where he met many of his closest friends and helped Litak develop into who he is now, he said.
After college, Litak entered the seminary at St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein and after two years of pre-theology and four years of theology, he was ordained a priest, and a deacon, by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich in 2016.
Since then, he’s served as a priest at Christ the King Catholic Church in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood and St. Clement Catholic Church in Lincoln Park.
His first role as pastor is at St. Catherine, as he took over for the retired Father Dennis Ziomek there last summer.
“St. Catherine is such a homey community, very similar to Evergreen Park,” Litak said. “It’s very family-oriented, with people who are willing to give you the shirt off their back.
“I plan to fulfill at least one term here and have no other plans than to be here at St. Catherine.”
