Meet The Crisp Family: Building A Solid Foundation Of Faith, Together

One day 13 years ago, when parishioner Matthew Crisp ordered his breakfast at a McDonald’s drive-thru, he couldn’t possibly have imagined the way his life was about to change! It was there that he met his wife, Jessica, and within months, the two were engaged. Not only did the encounter lead to the couple’s marriage, but it also brought Matthew to the Catholic Church.

Matthew had been raised in the Protestant faith, and he initially had a lot of questions about Jessica’s Catholic faith.

“When I met my wife, I was determined to have her come to my church, so I wanted to find things the Catholic Church was doing wrong,” Matthew says. “So, I would listen to the Catholic radio and one day Scott Hahn was on, and I thought, ‘This is really good!’ I hadn’t realized I was listening to the Catholic station. So then I switched gears and began thinking, ‘If my church is right, why has the Catholic Church been around so long?’”

Matthew spent the next year listening to Catholic radio and podcasts and learning all he could about the faith. He then entered the RCIA process and was received into the Church in 2009. The Crisps joined Corpus Christi when our parish began offering Mass in Spanish. Jessica is originally from El Salvador, and the family is bilingual.

Just a few years after joining the Church, Matthew went on a Christ Renews His Parish retreat, where he enjoyed getting to know his fellow parishioners better. Since then, he has helped with subsequent retreats and joined the Knights of Columbus. For the last two years, Matthew has taught our ninth-grade Confirmation class.

With five children whose ages range from 2 to 14, life is certainly busy for Matthew and Jessica. However, the Crisp family makes their faith a priority.

“We pray before meals and have nightly prayers, some in Spanish and some in English,” Matthew says. “We go to confession regularly, too. If you want to [maintain an active faith life], you end up making the time.”

For Matthew, the rewards of raising children in the Church are priceless.

“I want my kids to have a solid foundation in the faith,” he says. “Just going to church and making Christ the center of your life is ultimately what is going to bless you — regardless of how other things are going — because it is Jesus and the Eucharist.”

Matthew and Jessica Crisp and their children