What does it take to walk away from everything the world says will make you happy—career, wealth, marriage, family—and step into a life most people...
What does it take to walk away from everything the world says will make you happy—career, wealth, marriage, family—and step into a life most people can't understand?
In this episode of The Resilience Playbook, Cole Rodgers sits down with Father Patrick Friend, a Catholic priest, chaplain, and teacher at Catholic High School for boys in Little Rock, Arkansas. This is a conversation about faith, suffering, calling, and what it actually means to surrender your life to something bigger than yourself.
Father Patrick grew up in a faith-filled home where prayer wasn't optional and Mass was non-negotiable. His father showed him what it meant to love sacrificially. His mother showed him what it meant to live faithfully. And his uncle, a priest himself, showed him that joy and holiness could coexist. But even with that foundation, the priesthood wasn't a straight path. It was a calling he put aside in seventh grade when he discovered girls, dated seriously in college, and planned on dental school—until his mother was diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer two weeks after he graduated.
What followed was a crash course in faith under fire. Watching his mother face terminal illness with unshakable peace cracked something open in Patrick. He started going back to Mass. He started praying again. And in the chapel at Catholic High, where he had taken a teaching job to be near his family, God started speaking.
This conversation goes deep. Patrick talks about the moment he heard God's voice while mowing a stranger's lawn, the fear and freedom that came with saying yes to the priesthood, the six years of seminary formation that followed, and the spiritual warfare that shows up the second you start moving toward something holy. He also unpacks some of the hardest questions we face: Why does the good person suffer? What is evil? How do we carry the weight of life without breaking? And why does resilience require more than just grit—it requires grace.
If you've ever wrestled with your faith, questioned your calling, or wondered how to keep going when life doesn't make sense, this episode will meet you where you are.
IN THIS EPISODE
• Growing up in a home where faith was lived, not just taught
• The moment Patrick knew he wanted to be a priest—at eight years old
• Discovering women in seventh grade and putting the priesthood aside
• His mother's stage four cancer diagnosis and the worst news of his life
• Witnessing faith in the face of suffering and what it taught him about God
• Teaching at Catholic High and returning to prayer during his mother's illness
• The prayer that changed everything: "Lord, I do not want what you want for me—help me to desire your will"
• The moment God spoke while mowing a stranger's lawn
• Understanding evil, sin, and the devil from a theological perspective
• Six years of seminary formation and what it takes to become a priest
• Why the good person suffers—and why suffering is part of the story
• Carrying the weight without breaking: the truth that no man is an island
• The Desert Fathers and the call to get back up until you die
• Spiritual warfare and why the enemy attacks the moment you move toward holiness
• What it means to live a life of surrender, service, and joy
ABOUT FATHER PATRICK FORTIN
Father Patrick Friend is a Catholic priest serving as chaplain and teacher at Catholic High School for boys in Little Rock, Arkansas. He teaches freshman English, sophomore biology, and junior religion while caring for the spiritual needs of students, faculty, and families. Ordained alongside his younger brother Joe, who is also a priest, Father Patrick is known for his authenticity, humor, and ability to meet people exactly where they are. He is the son of Jerry and the late Betty Friend, nephew of a priest, and a man who said yes to a calling that cost him everything the world values—and gave him everything that matters.
ABOUT THE RESILIENCE PLAYBOOK
The Resilience Playbook is a long-form conversation series hosted by Cole Rodgers, featuring leaders, athletes, entrepreneurs, and high performers who have faced adversity and come out with something meaningful to share.
These conversations explore resilience, faith, leadership, family, mental health, and the defining moments that shape who we become.
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– Father Patrick Friend read more
