Rev. John P. Cush, STD

About Rev. John P. Cush, STD

Father John P. Cush, STD, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, is the Editor-in-Chief of Homiletic and Pastoral Review. Fr. Cush serves as a full-time Professor of Dogmatic and Fundamental Theology, Coordinator of the Discipleship Stage of Formation, Director of Seminarian Admissions and Recruitment, and Formation Advisor at Saint Joseph’s Seminary and College in New York. At the seminary, he is the Terence Cardinal Cooke Endowed Chair of Sacred Theology.
 
Fr. Cush holds the pontifical doctorate in sacred theology (STD) from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy in the field of fundamental theology, He had also studied dogmatic theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum), Rome, Italy, on the graduate level. Fr. Cush is the author of The How-to-Book of Theology (OSV Press, 2020) and Theology as Prayer: a Primer for Diocesan Priests (with Msgr. Walter Oxley), as well as being a contributor to the festschrift Intellect, Affect, and God (Marquette University Press, 2021). He is also the author of Nothing But You: Reflections on the Priesthood and Priestly Formation through the Lens of Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire, July 2024), Your Faith Has Saved You: Homilies for Liturgical Year C – Sundays, Solemnities, and Some Feasts (En Route Books and Media, 2025), and A Concise Introduction to Bernard Lonergan, S.J. (En Route Books and Media, 2025).

Questions Answered – September 2025

The “Great Schism”: What Happened and Why? Question: Dear Father Cush, why did the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church split? What does the Catholic Church teach about receiving the Sacraments in the Orthodox Churches?   Answer: The … [Read more...]

Homilies for August 2025

For August 3, August 10, August 17, August 24, and August 31, as well as August 15 (the Solemnity of the Assumption) Homilies for Sundays by Fr. Edward Pelrine Homily for Our Lady’s Assumption by Rev. John P. Cush Eighteenth Sunday in O … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – August 2025

What Is a Resurrected Body Like? Question: What does Saint Thomas Aquinas teach us about the nature of the resurrected body of Jesus? What does he teach us about our own resurrected bodies at the end of time?  Answer: Saint Thomas … [Read more...]

Homilies for July 2025

For July 6, July 13, July 20, and July 27 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – July 6, 2025 Readings: Isaiah 66:10–14c • Psalm 66:1–3, 4–5, 6–7, 16, 20 • Galatians 6:14–18 • Luke 10:1–12, 17–20 bible.usccb. … [Read more...]

The Discipleship Stage of Priestly Formation: A Thomistic and Pastoral Vision

The priestly vocation is a gift from Christ to His Church, a sacred calling that demands careful discernment, formation, and accompaniment. The Church’s contemporary vision for priestly formation has been significantly renewed through the 2 … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – July 2025

Why Does Jesus Have Two Genealogies? Question One: Dear Father, I am in a Bible study in my parish and I was wondering, as we are about to begin reading the New Testament, I am wondering why are there two different genealogies for Jesus in … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – June 2025

Does Sin Cause Natural Disasters? Question: Dear Father Cush, according to Saint Thomas Aquinas and other Catholic theologians, are natural disasters caused by Original Sin? Answer: What a great question! Let’s examine it thoroughly. A … [Read more...]

The Restoration of the Permanent Diaconate After the Second Vatican Council

 Significance and Implementation in the United States

The Second Vatican Council marked a pivotal moment in the life of the Catholic Church, not only for its aggiornamento, but also for its ressourcement — the return to the sources of Scripture and the early Church. One fruit of this t … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – May 2025

In Memoriam: Fr. Brian Mullady, O.P.  We at Homiletic and Pastoral Review mourn the passing of Rev. Brian Thomas Becket Mullady, O.P., STD. Fr. Brian was a noted theologian, preacher, author, and professor. For many years, Fr. Brian was … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – April 2025

What Is Jesus’s Risen Body Like? Question: Dear Father Cush, As we approach the celebration of Easter, what does the Church teach about the nature of Jesus’s resurrected body? What did it look like? Answer: According to Saint Thomas Aqu … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – March 2025

Do Anglicans Believe in the Real Presence? Question: Dear Father Cush, thank you for answering the question about what the Lutherans believe concerning the Real Presence of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Surely, the Episcopal … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – February 2025

Can Catholics Receive Communion in Protestant Churches? Question: Dear Father Cush, I recently had the opportunity to attend a Lutheran Church for their Sunday service. I was encouraged to receive Holy Communion by my friend who told me … [Read more...]

Homilies for January 2025

For January 1 (Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God), January 5 (Epiphany), January 12 (Baptism of the Lord), January 19, and January 26  Homily for Mary, Mother of God by Rev. John P. Cush All others by Br. Lawrence Joshua Johnson, … [Read more...]

Celebrating 125 Years of Homiletic & Pastoral Review

“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” So writes T.S. Eliot in his “Little Gidding” in his Four Quartets (1941). The same can be said … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – January 2025

How Does St. Thomas Aquinas Argue for God’s Existence? Question: I have heard about Aquinas’ five proofs for the existence of God years ago and I never really understood them. Would you be able to explain them and briefly comment on them? A … [Read more...]