At a recent fundraising event at Holy Trinity Parish in Dallas, Texas, SLI President & CEO Fr. Patrick J. McDevitt, CM, PhD offered reflections following a testimonial from our Dallas host, Fr. Milton Ryan, CM, about his own positive experience working thorugh issues of depression through the care of SLI when it was engaged in the work of the Saint Louis (Missouri) Outreach Center in the 2010s, empahtically stating “Saint Luke’s saved my life.” As part of the evening’s events, Fr. Ryan also offered a from-memory rendition of the second movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 (“Pathétique”). Fr. McDevitt praised Fr. Ryan’s testimony and indicated how it highlighted the importance for clergy and religious, as well as lay ministers, to be attentive to their own mental health in order to be effective and joyful ministers of the Good News of Christ. Video of Fr. Ryan’s testimonial and Fr. McDevitt’s remarks is below. A transcript of Fr. McDevitt’s remarks follows:
Remarks of Fr. Patrick J. McDevitt, CM, PhD, President & CEO of Saint Luke Institute
Holy Trinity Parish, Dallas, Texas | Fundraiser Event | February 28, 2026
These are the stories that inspire people to support us. Even the stories that bring others to our institute who need our services. I’m a Vincentian. And Vincent de Paul said we could do no greater service than to go to the building up and support of priests.
We believe we want to change the world — start with the poor, and then address the clergy who are up in years, and they can make a difference. So when I talk about my spirit, I say we fly far and high on two wings, and the wings have to be big and the wings have to be balanced. It’s the poor who always ground us in who we are as human beings. And the other is the clergy — lifting up those who are called to lead. And I love our motto. The motto of Saint Luke’s is “fostering healthy ministry of the church to heal the world.” The church is about healing the whole world, and our leaders have to be dedicated to their own mental, emotional, relational, and physical health. If we don’t have leaders who are committed to that, it’s problematic.
We all know that the mental health issue is growing. I don’t think it’s growing because people are necessarily dealing with more mental health issues today — I just think there’s much more awareness and much more openness around it. There are so many that we need to reach, and so many that don’t know that they’re in need.
My role is prevention. It was very clear that there are certain things that need to be addressed. Some of them challenged me about it, and I thought, well, sorry — I’m a psychologist, and I had a fiduciary responsibility. Because if you’re not healthy, you’re not happy. And if you’re not happy, how do you announce the good news of the Lord?
We touch and heal, and they go on and they make things so much more. And as a nonprofit Catholic organization doing this kind of work, we know we can’t do this alone. It takes a Church to heal our ministers. It takes all of us. We want to expand our reach, we want to expand our service, because we know there are so many more out there. We also want to expand our reach to lay ecclesial ministers. There are more lay ministers in the church than even clergy, and they too face the same kinds of struggles. We want to find programs, support systems, and education systems to reach them — because we are a church organization, we are church people, and we’re here to support our clergy.
And Milton — he is one of our many success stories. Since taking this job, I can’t tell you how many priests and religious have pulled me aside. I was just in Saint Louis, and a gentleman who was in the workshop asked to talk to me. He said, “I’m a Saint Luke’s alumnus.” And he told his story. Then I was giving a retreat, and again someone said, “I’m a Saint Luke Institute alumni.” And he told me his story. It was very similar — that Saint Luke’s saved my life.
We rejoice in the faith you give us, in the hope you give us, and in the love you give us. I thank you for this gathering of brothers and sisters who care — who care for your people, who care for your shepherds.
[Lord,] I thank you for their caring hearts. Thank you for this parish and this community. Thank you for Father Milton and all those who work and support him. Thank you for the blessing of this time. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to meet new friends, and bless all of us as we go home. Bless all of us in this Lenten season. May we grow in a deeper peace and awareness of your presence in our lives. Amen.