Biography of Father Kevin M Cusick

Father Cusick with his cat Pippo

Father Kevin M. Cusick, (LCDR, CHC, Ret.) was born and baptized in Detroit in 1962. He was raised in Maryland, the second of six children in a practicing Catholic family. Serving holy Mass and singing in the choir were among the many ways the family assisted in the life of faith at Saint Mary’s in Laurel. Catholic elementary and high school assisted formation in the home.

The family sailed together on the vessel The Seven C’s annually through the season, primarily on the Chesapeake Bay. Father started a newspaper in grade school and was editor of the high school newspaper. He earned Eagle Scout, served as a page in the Maryland State House, attended Boys’ State at the Naval Academy and starred in high school musicals, among other activities.

Father attended Fordham University on a four-year Army ROTC scholarship and was commissioned a second lieutenant of Armor in 1984. He served in 3/67 Armor Battalion of the 2d Armored Division as a tank platoon leader, battalion adjutant and headquarters company executive officer.

Then-First Lieutenant Cusick took part in NATO Reforger exercise in the former West Germany in 1987 and was awarded two Army Achievement medals and two Army Commendation Medals. Cusick left the Army as a First Lieutenant (Promotable) and transitioned to the Navy as chaplain candidate prior to entering the seminary at Mount Saint Mary's in Emmitsburg, Maryland, for the Archdiocese of Washington as a cosponsored seminarian with the Archdiocese for the Military Services for future duty as a Naval chaplain.

Father Cusick was ordained priest in 1992 and served for three years in Washington area parishes before returning to active duty as a Navy chaplain upon completion of Naval Chaplain School in Rhode Island and promotion to the grade of Lieutenant.

Father Cusick served at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, two deployments in three years on USS IKE, two years at Naval Support Activity, Naples, Italy, followed by a stint at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, Chapel. He was awarded the Navy Commendation medal before transitioning to the Reserve component in 2006 after involuntary separation from service on active duty of 14 years and 11 months.

Chaplain Cusick began drilling with Surgical Company Bravo of the 4th MLG in late summer that year. Cusick was tapped for deployment to Iraq and mobilized in July 2007 for combat duty with OIF from August to January 2008. After a 10-month activation Cusick returned to pastoral duties with the Archdiocese of Washington and Reserve duty at 4MLG. He was promoted to the rank of LCDR in late 2008. He also deployed to Morocco, California and Alaska with 4MLG.

After 8 years at SCOB Cusick was given orders to CNSL Norfolk and the ministry center where he has served on a number of ships including USS Kearsarge for periods at sea ranging from overnight visits to two week AT periods. Father retired from the military in 2017 with 25 years commissioned service and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.

Father has attended classes at the Pontifical Faculty at Naples, Italy, in the STL program there. He also taught for Saint Leo College on an adjunct basis, has written a weekly column for The Wanderer Catholic Newspaper for over 20 years and has also published in the London Catholic Herald, the Washington Catholic Standard and Homiletic and Pastoral Review.

Since 2010 Father has served as pastor of Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Benedict, Maryland. The parish offered a complete schedule of Sunday and weekday traditional Latin Masses, devotions including rogation processions and traditional Confirmation until shut down in 2022 by order of the pope. What was once a thriving and growing parish is now reduced from over 200 parishioners to 40.

 

Father blogs at APriestLife. blogspot.com, writes homilies at mcitl.blogspot.com, keeps up with friends on Facebook at Reverend Padre-Kevin Michael Cusick, was formerly on Twitter as @MCITLFrAphorism with nearly  25k followers and can be found now on Truth Social as @TruthSocialPadre.

Father Cusick is most proud and blessed for being a part of the Lord’s work together with the faithful of restoring the traditional church interior and traditional faith through the daily offering of the traditional Latin Mass for almost 12 years at Saint Francis de Sales in Benedict, Maryland.