Faith at Work – July 2022

For the month of July, we are happy to highlight Father Patrick Riviere in our “Faith at Work” series! Fr. Patrick was born and raised in Thibodaux where he attended elementary school at St. Joseph Elementary. Patrick’s Catholic school education continued on at E.D. White Catholic High School where he was part of the swim team, before going to Nicholls State University to study pre-med while coaching swim team. Fr. Patrick was “swimming” along with his own life plans, but little did he know that the Lord would soon reveal other plans, and he would later find himself in the seminary on his journey to the priesthood! 

While at Nicholls, Fr. Patrick began to hear his calling to the priesthood when he saw how active God was in his daily life, and soon he began his mission to show others the same reality. When asked what really drew him to the priesthood, Fr. Patrick said, “The biggest thing that continued to move me toward the priesthood was a desire to give my life totally to the Lord.” On June 1st of 2019, Fr. Patrick did just that, and was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. 

Today, Fr. Patrick works with the Office of Parish Support and is currently in residence at St. Thomas Aquinas at Nicholls State University. Fr. Patrick is involved with several parishes across the diocese, and also celebrates mass at St. Thomas Aquinas on the weekends. And while Fr. Patrick stays busy with the work and responsibilities that come with the priesthood, he wants people to know that priests are still “just people” — emphasizing that there are far more similarities than differences between priests and laity. Fr. Patrick shared, “surely there is an incredible grace with that sacrament, but I still have a lot of the same likes and dislikes, gifts and struggles.” 

In addition to his work with our local parishes and at St. Thomas, Fr. Patrick is no stranger to our Foundation. He first was introduced to the Foundation while in seminary, and has since taken an active role in several of our projects. When asked what he enjoyed about working with our Foundation, Fr. Patrick shared that he loves the ability it gives him to connect with other people in our diocese, supporting and furthering the mission of the Church in our community. He also shared a sentiment that our team at the Catholic Foundation also holds true: no gift is too small and every little bit helps. Fr. Patrick also added that if you’re interested in helping out local families within our diocese but don’t have the means to financially do so, that there are plenty of ways to help via prayer and volunteer work — noting that after the devastation of Hurricane Ida last year, more now than ever, our community is in need of your help. Fr. Patrick urged those wanting to help out to check out Catholic Charities, to contact their local church parishes, or to visit the Catholic Foundation to find out how they can be of use. 

Thank you Fr. Patrick for your hard work and dedication to our diocese and the mission of the Catholic Foundation! If you are interested in the work the Catholic Foundation is doing within our community and want to get involved, please take a look around our website, give us a call at 985-850-3116, or send us an email at cfsl@htdiocese.org to learn more.