By William Schmitt
PROSPECT HEIGHTS — A new book by Father John Cush, who has taught and mentored seminarians for years as a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, sharpens the focus on Catholic identity — how it connects directly with Jesus Christ and, through Him, with a society we hope to evangelize.
Our faith is “not merely something one does,” said Father Cush, now a professor and admissions director at St. Joseph’s Seminary and College in Yonkers, New York. It is “a way of seeing” through which clergy and laity can reach today’s secularized culture marked by misunderstood, self-centered identities.
He attributes the “way of seeing” quote to another respected theologian, one of the most popular evangelists who uses technology to illuminate Catholicism’s wisdom and hope.
The man on that mission is Bishop Robert Barron, whose brainchild for ministry, “Word on Fire,” produces podcasts, books, and videos for vast audiences as he shepherds the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota.
Over time, the two scholars discovered that they share many insights at the intersection of theology and state-of-the-art spiritual support, especially for priests.
This led Father Cush, a Windsor Terrace native who holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology, to write his recently published book, “Nothing But You, Lord: Reflections on the Priesthood and Priestly Formation through the Lens of Bishop Robert Barron.”
The work offers up-to-date guidance for professors and others who accompany young men in their vocational discernment.
However, Catholics in the pews will also benefit from this inside look at the practical craft and profound values forming the authentic, energetic identities people need to see in Church members who spread the Good News.
Father Cush says Catholics, and especially priests, must reflect on “who Jesus is in His humanity, which we share with Him, and His divinity, which He shares with us.”
This appreciation for everything Christ is — in and for us — prompts Father Cush to examine seminary formation in
four dimensions: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral.
From a sturdy foundation of well-balanced character and personality, plus wide-ranging prayer and ongoing study of Church knowledge, a seminarian prepares for pastoral work — sharing Christ’s compassion with wisdom as a “soul doctor,” to use Bishop Barron’s term.
Father Cush reasserts the connectedness we patients should pursue: “Who we are flows from who we know — the Eucharistic Lord.”
This Catholic path toward gratitude and humility recalls a story about Saint Thomas Aquinas, which yielded Father Cush’s book title. In prayer, God praised St. Thomas’s written work and asked what he desired in repayment for his labors. Thomas replied, “Nothing but you, Lord.”
Father Cush sees special roles connected to a priest’s personal identity, but he points out that all baptized Catholics participate in Christ’s anointing as “priest, prophet, and king.” Laypersons join in the Church’s “way of seeing,” drawing upon their preparation in their parishes and beyond.
“No priest can hope to evangelize alone,” he says in the book, released this month by Word on Fire.
With his admiration for a solidly faithful social media icon like Bishop Barron, who he quips is often trending but never trendy, Father Cush implicitly invites a broad audience in service to society.
You can find “Nothing But You Lord” on Bishop Barron’s website, wordonfire.com, or search on Amazon.