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'I was working in export sales for a company which made electrical beauty products, and I wasn't really happy with my life in general, I just found there was a sense of something missing from my life."

That was in 1999 and since then Matt's life has changed dramatically.

He spent five years at a religious order called the Redemptorists in Scotland, from 2001 to 2006, where he found his calling was to serve the community as a parish priest.

Matt is set to be ordained in June 2009 after spending three years at a seminary in Guildford.

After that he will take up a post at a parish in either Gloucestershire or Wiltshire depending on what the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton decides for him.

'Drifted away'

Matt had been brought up as Catholic, but he drifted away from the Church during his teens and early 20's and got to a point where he found himself asking what his purpose of life was.

"I found myself going back to church. For some reason, I wanted some experience of what I had as a child, a feeling of warmth and a sense of community."

Matt's father was already a clergyman and his mother was also an active church member.

Although everything seemed to happen very quickly for Matt, his calling was seen by his friends or family as a natural progression.

"My friends who are not religious at all were also extremely supportive. In many ways whilst I was very surprised all this was happening, as I'd been away from the church for many years, and I'm suddenly saying I'm thinking about being a priest, others were saying to me they weren't that surprised."

Normally training to become a priest takes about six years, but Matt's path has been slightly different because he had already spent time at a religious order.

A religious order is a lineage of a community of people live separately from society in accordance to their specific religious devotion - in this case it meant a period of reflection for Matt and the chance to explore his call to priesthood.

'Call to serve'

Although he is busy working his way through his studies, it's also given him the impetus to lift the lid on the process of becoming a priest.

He has written a magazine called ' The Evangelist'  which not only debates it means to be a Christian today, but also provide younger men with information about priesthood.

Although there is no acute shortage for more priests in Somerset, Matt believes there is always a need for more men to come into priesthood as the older generation moves on.

"It's to encourage younger people to consider what their vocation is, what is it that God is calling them to do with their lives, whether that is through marriage, priesthood or a call to serve in any sort of way."

'Noisy world'

One of the requirements as a Catholic priest is to be celibate.

"It's something that I'm comfortable with. I'm in my late 30's and my experience throughout my twenties was that I would meet the right person and get married. I had girlfriends throughout my twenties.

"I'd always felt I had something missing, I'd always felt that marriage wouldn't quite do it for me and finding that this was what God was calling me to do, this is the one thing that satisfies me deep down."

Although this is a big commitment to make this promise as a priest, Matt believes there is a bigger hurdle to overcome for potential priests.

"I think it's the crisis of faith, the world we live in is a very secular world, there's a lot of good that goes on, it's a very noisy world, but in a way issues of faith get pushed aside.

"I don't think celibacy is the main reason, it's probably part of an issue."

The magazine will be available at Catholic churches across Somerset and it will also be available through the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton website.