Good Shepherds
It is with great honor and an abundance of joy that we are to announce our new chaplains to Red Bird Ministries. Our two chaplains will be guiding our ministry through the journey of supporting families of child loss. Fr. Rusty Bruce will be spiritually guiding the mothers of loss and directing our annual grieving mother’s retreat. Fr. Stephen Castille will be spiritually guiding the fathers of loss and directing our annual grieving father’s retreat. Together they will shepherd our flock towards our Divine Shepherd, allowing those who feel so alone, lost, and abandoned direction toward the healing balm of Christ. In doing so, families will encounter the Father’s heart through these incredible shepherds whose only desire is to do the Lord’s work. We are so honored and humbled to call you our Chaplains. May the Lord and Our Lady protect your beautiful Father's hearts, and mantle you both with Our Lady’s Love.
Fr. Rusty Bruce
I grew up along the beautiful banks of Bayou Lafourche in the small town of Cut Off, LA. I graduated from South Lafourche High School and went to college right out of high school, even though I felt God calling me to the
priesthood. Most of my time in college was spent wrestling with God over my vocation. During that time, I went on several discernment retreats for my diocese and visited religious communities throughout the country. After
completing my studies at Nicholls State University, I finally decided to begin my formal discernment and studies for the priesthood at Saint Joseph Seminary College (St. Ben's). After my time there, I completed my priestly studies at Notre Dame Seminary and was ordained for my home diocese, Houma-Thibodaux, on June 6, 2020. I am currently serving as the administrator of two parishes: Saint Hilary in Mathews and Saint Anthony in Gheens.
Early into my priesthood, I discovered that there was a great need for a ministry like Red Bird that helped grieving parents. Many were coming to me with unimaginable suffering and grief from their child's loss. I felt there was nothing that had prepared me for what was waiting for me in the parish until some parishioners introduced me to Red Bird Ministries. I wanted to be more supportive of their needs, so I volunteered to work at one of the women's retreats which changed how I viewed this ministry. There, I was abundantly blessed by the encounters, stories shared, and the courage that I experienced that weekend from the women that I wanted to continue to be a part of this extraordinary ministry. The whole time I was working the retreat, the Lord kept tugging at my heart, and once again, I felt his call to answer.
Fr. Stephen Castille
My name is Fr. Stephen Castille, and I am originally from Church Point, LA. My story is unique in that I was in the seminary over thirty years ago, but I left the seminary to pursue what I felt was a calling to marriage, and I actually did get married. However, after working for Shell for almost eighteen years, my job and my marriage came to an abrupt end. After going through a divorce and annulment, I began to discern a calling to the priesthood again. I was ordained to the priesthood on June 4, 2022, and I am in residence at St Hilary Catholic Church in the Houma-Thibodaux diocese and I am the special assistant to the office of the Bishop during the week.
After learning about this ministry recently, I felt drawn to be a part of it so that I could draw on my experience of being married and having gone through the loss of two children before birth. I feel the Lord leading me to minister to those going through this loss. I believe I can also help them work through this difficult loss with the view of keeping the marriage intact, which I was not able to do. My work with Retrouvaille has given me tools that can help couples learn to continue to dialogue through this difficult challenge in their lives and, through the Grace of God, learn to live with the loss together.
