Fr. Patrick professed religious vows in 1985 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1989. Holding a doctorate in pastoral counseling from Fordham University, he has dedicated himself to providing culturally responsive pastoral care within diverse communities. His ministry has included missionary outreach among Spanish-speaking faithful in the underserved regions of the Mississippi Delta, where he fostered vibrant parish life and encouraged the formation and leadership of the laity.

Fr. Keyes has also contributed to the wider mission of the Redemptorists through collaboration across North America. He currently serves at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish in Torreón, Mexico, continuing his lifelong commitment to evangelization, pastoral accompaniment, and the spiritual lives of his parishioners.

We were grateful for the opportunity last month to speak with Fr. Keyes, and feel privileged to share his missionary experience and insights with our At the Table readers.

You can also watch the interview on YouTube here.

What aspects of your upbringing shaped your sense of faith, spirituality and community?

Fr. Keyes: The thing I often think about is that I had a brother who went into the Redemptorist seminary when I was 5 years old, and I always kind of think that planted the seed of my vocation.

My brother didn’t continue—he left after 2 years—but it was what got me to know the Redemptorists and have the desire to join. I just remember, as a little 5-year-old, the thing that impressed me when I went to visit was that they always seemed to enjoy washing the dishes. And so, I thought there must be something about this group—that things that are terrible and that we don’t want to do bring them joy.

As a little boy, I had this seed planted in me: a desire to be a Redemptorist. There were two Redemptorists who became close to our family. One was Father Dave Pollack, C.Ss.R., who is stationed at St. Clement’s Health Care Center right now, and then Father Emmett Collins, C.Ss.R., who died maybe 10 years ago. They became good friends with our family, and it was through their contact that, when I was 14, I decided I wanted to enter the high school seminary as well.

Can you share the journey that led to your first vows in 1985 and ultimately to ordination in 1989? What inspired you to join the Redemptorist order specifically and how has this guided your vocation?
Fr. Keyes: I entered the seminary in 1978 as a junior in high school, and I always had this desire that I wanted to be a Redemptorist. That is what meant the most to me.

Our novitiate was in Oconomowoc, and the night before my first profession, I went for a run around the lake. As I was finishing the run, I could see the novitiate in the distance, and my heart was just filled with joy that I’m now going to be what I’ve always wanted to be: to become a Redemptorist. It was an experience of being filled with the Spirit and this joy that I was going to be a member of the Redemptorist community.

From our novitiate year, I think there were 10 of us professed, and 6 of us are still Redemptorists. We’ve always been very close friends and a big support for one another as we’ve continued to journey together.

My ordination was in 1989. If you look out the front window [of the Provincial Office], you can see the church I was ordained at, St. Michael’s.

For me, priesthood is more about ministry and service, and being a Redemptorist is more about who I am. It was a culmination of the journey to be able to continue to minister with the poor and most abandoned.

How has multicultural ministry shaped your understanding of faith and pastoral care?

Fr. Keyes: In 37 years, I’ve almost only worked with the Latino community. It’s a vibrant and life-giving community. I really do feel like I’ve been nourished by the spirituality of the Latino people.

It’s been a blessing—the Latino culture, and especially the sense of community and the sense of popular religiosity: that religion isn’t just something you do for an hour on Sunday, but it’s a part of your life. It’s something you experience much more directly living here in Mexico.

It’s just been a blessing; their liturgies are lively and vibrant. I often time say when have Mass in English I could be the youngest person in the church and when I’m having Mass in Spanish, I’m often the oldest. It’s been a great blessing.

I also spent three years in Brazil, which was a very similar experience in our Church as far as being a young, lively, and life-giving community. Our mission was in the Amazon jungle, so it was a very different reality. Right now, Torreón is a city of a million people. It was a different kind of experience, but it was still that experience of a life-giving Church.

What have been some of the unique joys and challenges of multicultural ministry? 

Fr. Keyes: I know that I’m not Latino. I don’t know what it’s like to be a minority. I don’t know what it’s like to be fearful that, because of the color of your skin or the language that you speak, someone’s going to stop you and question your legal status. It’s been more a sense of accompanying people who are in that situation—to know our Redemptorist charism is with the poor and most abandoned.

Right now, the Latino community is persecuted in the United States, and there is that understanding of the spirituality to know that Jesus is with them regardless. Not that it means they won’t get deported—because they do get deported—but that, in the midst of it, Jesus is still Lord and Savior.

In the end, Jesus will triumph.

How have moments of struggle, doubt or challenge shaped your faith and strengthened your vocation?

Fr. Keyes: My belief is that Jesus is there in the midst of it all—not that it means there is going to be easy answers. You know, one of the most difficult things as a priest is being with parents at the loss of a child. The parents are saying, “Why did they take my son?” and to know that there isn’t an answer. To be able to be with them in the midst of their suffering is what my image of Jesus is.

Thinking about the Easter season, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene first. The reason why Jesus appeared to her first isn’t because she was the best disciple or the most faithful, but because she stayed at the tomb.

In the midst of that difficult moment, she stayed there.

In difficult moments, like the loss of a child or someone being deported, to know that I don’t need to have an answer, but I’m able to be faithful and stay with people in the midst of that brokenness and that struggle.

That’s my image of Jesus.

Which spiritual writers or Redemptorist mentors influence your approach to ministry and prayer?

Fr. Keyes: I have great affection for Saint Alphonsus Liguori and his method of mental prayer. One thing I think about is that St. Alphonsus is the doctor of prayer. He had this belief that prayer isn’t just something for monks, priests and the religious or for people who have time and money, but that prayer is for everyone.

Even before he was Redemptorist he started the evening chapels in Naples. I think that motivates me not only in deepening my spirituality but also as a minister.

Another thing that is very important to me is to be able to spend time in the presence of the Blessed Sacraments. Saint Alphonsus’s great book is Visits to the Blessed Sacrament and living in a house and knowing that the Blessed Sacrament is here.

At the end or beginning of the day, I can go down the hall and spend time in the presence of Jesus.

What insight can you share about the formation experience?  What is your message to Co-Redemptorists and others who support our Redemptorist seminarians? 

Fr. Keyes: The thing about being in formation is that sense of accompaniment—to be with men while they’re discovering their call with Jesus. Some of the best stories are people who decided to leave and that their call wasn’t to become a Redemptorist missionary—to help them through that sense of discernment.

My same feeling about being in ministry, parish, or the retreat house is that sense of accompaniment. The same with formation.

Thinking about Co-Redemptorists, my experience is that, because of the generosity of benefactors, money has not been an issue for someone who wants to become a Redemptorist. The great blessing of our benefactors makes it possible to answer the call.

It’s interesting—we have a seminarian from here who’s home for the week, and there’s a lady who always comes to daily Mass. She’s one of the Madrinas or sponsors for Jesus, that’s the name of one of the seminarians, and she wanted to take him out to lunch. I thought that was great. They don’t want to just send money; they also want a relationship with the seminarians.

I think that’s a great blessing—not just the generosity, but that together, we form a community and a family.

This interview with Rev. Patrick Keyes, C.Ss.R. was edited for clarity.