Everybody knows Father Methodius Kusho, the legendary, beloved priest of St. Mary’s Parish, who has been a pillar of the community over the last 50 years.
Ask anyone about Fr. Kushko’s commitment and work ethic, and chances are you’ll get a smile plus a story. Above all, though, they’ll probably tell you he never stops.
Why? Well, if the pulpit, tending to his congregation, and the Church weren’t enough, the energetic priest also was the voice -- and the face! -- of a long-running radio talk show on 98.5 The Rock, as well as a television series on Access 7.
Even the most energetic and enthusiastic of souls need a little downtime, though, and so, after 50 years, it’s time to hang up the cassock and collar for a well earned retirement, but not before sitting down with Yorkton This Week to tell us not only what was, but what’s next.
“Well, first of all, in 1964, I entered my career as being the assistant superintendent of schools in the Border Land school unit outside of Roblin, and I had to go to notiviate because I chose to be a priest that we call religious. You live in a community like this, you see -- like this, [Yorkton] is a community, and you are a celibate with vows.
“So then, I had to do one year of novitiate and then I had to do two years of priest theology, and I just did one year of philosophy because I had a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education.
“Then, they sent me to the University of Ottawa, and that’s where I got my Bachelors of Theology with distinction. They asked me to teach -- do my seminary in Rock Land. I taught there for a while and I became a principal there, but they shut the place down.
“I served in a few Parishes -- Preeceville, Russell and others, and then of course they appointed me to come here.
“The interesting thing was that the first person that I met was our present director of the Rock, [Dennis Dyck] and he says, ‘Father, I need your help. The Government has asked us to have a program in Ukrainian.’ Because if you don’t, for example, do that, you’re not going to get paid.
“You know, this is a very hard thing for people to believe, that the Federal government would ask that, but they did. So I said, ‘OK, I’ll have a radio program where I can interview people.’
“After that, I thought, I could do something more about that. I’ll have the Ukranian Divine liturgy for Sunday, eh? We’ll have the most important parts in it especially for people that can’t go to church. And that turned out to be something that...a program that other people were listening to during the week. And people who are not Ukrainian Catholic! ...That are born again Christian, you see. I’m a born again Christian.
“Then of course, a very fine gentleman I interviewed in our TV station, Access communications, asked me to break in this program in the Ukrainian hour for interviewing people for whatever I wanted to do. So that’s how I got involved in TV also.
“At the present time, the program is still going on, and I have a very helpful assistant, you know, and she’s going to take the program over.
“On Sunday, I was 87 years old -- that’s my birthday -- and I’m being directed and sent to retire at St. Volodymyr Villa in Saskatoon. That’s a Ukrainian Catholic institution for retired people. They tell me it’s a very wonderful place, and good, and so on.
“When I’m able to finish, which will be August 1st but possibly sooner than that, I’ll be having to leave my friends in Yorkton.
“The most important thing that happened to me -- and I must say this -- that maybe our Catholic people won’t like -- but when I studied at St. Paul University, it was right after Vatican II. And as you know, Vatican II almost split the Catholic Church apart. So I got very, very poor spiritual training from the priesthood. And I felt an emptiness within me. Consequently when I was ordained here on July the 5th 1970, right in the back door of this parish, I was then assigned to teach in Roblin, and it was right there that I felt that emptiness, you see. A few years later, maybe six years later, I decided to go on a forty day silent retreat with the Jesuit followers in Ontario. So, I went, and there I met -- there was about 45 of us [priests] and it’s interesting because silence is a great means of communication. You don’t talk to others; only on Saturday you have a half day. Sometimes you have a full day off. But you do on a daily basis with your director for about an hour.
“Now, there I met two priests. One was Father Smith from Winnipeg who was a missionary in Peru. He was an oblate missionary, and the other was a Jesuit from the Southern United States. I asked them to take me through the Sinner’s Prayer so I could become a born again Christian. And they did an excellent job! They taught me what it means, what are the benefits, what is the relationship between you and Jesus, you see, because it’s a development upon, and built upon, the graces you receive when you’re baptized. It’s built upon Baptism. Being a born again Christian doesn’t mean that you’re a Protestant, you know? It’s strictly Scriptural.
“After that happened, it changed my life. I was a different person completely. What I do mostly -- what I’ve done mostly here, is I pray with people. I pray with people and people get healed.
“When I was Pastor in Ituna, and I was there for the longest time too, they tell me that I prayed [with] over six people who had cancer, and all of them got healed. And there have been a lot of other people who got healed in many other things that I have prayed with. It’s a gift that the Lord has given me.
“When I was first assigned here, I used to go to the Catholic schools and teach religion too.
“One story I like to relate,” Father Kushko laughs, “is not a good story but I’ll relate it anyway.
“One day, one of our students from here who lives in Calgary, he was in Grade 11. He says to me, ‘Father, would you come to Sacred Heart School and give a talk to the Grade 11 [class] that I am a part of.’ So, I did. And you could hear a pin drop. Then he goes and takes me to another class room, and my goodness. These kids. As soon as the teacher would ask them something, they would ask them or contradict them. I’ve never seen such a thing in my life!
“Anyhow, I used to teach...to the students. So my friend says, ‘I have Father Kushko with me to talk to you, and I gave a talk to them on our faith, and you could hear a pin drop.
“A couple of days later a student comes to me and says, ‘Father, I’m not a Catholic but I’ve been here for three years and you know that’s the best lesson I’ve ever heard taught at this school.
“I thought, what were the other lessons like? If that’s the best lesson...I was speaking unprepared because I didn’t have time to prepare.
“The other thing I wanted to mention here, it just happened last year.
“The Knights of Columbus had their yearly convention. So, the St. Girards here, they have a branch, and there was another in Yorkton.
“There is an activity in the Parish that we would go there and take part, so I went there. I came there and the Archbishop, Donald Boland was there from Regina, and our Bishop was there too, you know? So he says to me, ‘Father, would you say the Grace at meals?’ Well, Kushko isn’t that foolish, you know? You don’t upstage an archbishop and a priest. No. So I go up to the front to do this, and a gentleman who’s the head of the Knights of Columbus in Regina says ‘Pick a short sermon.’
“Well, how do you pick a short sermon?” Kushko says, laughing.
“So I said, ‘O Holy Spirit. Please give me the words and tell me what to do. And sure enough, the Holy Spirit told me.
“On August 29th, 1970 just one month after I was ordained, I was returning from Swift Current at 4 o’clock in the morning and I fell asleep at the wheel of my car. When I woke up, my car was going into the ditch at 65 miles an hour.
“I turned my wheel and looked up, and there was Mary the Mother of God. Every time I tell this I cry. She saved my life.”
Father Kushko had an encounter with the Prime Minister, too, as a lifelong Liberal.
“Well, I’m a life member of the Liberal party, and I have been for many years because at one time we had people like John Diefenbaker; we had Louis St. Laurent.
“The Liberal Party today is not what it used to be, and neither is the Conservative Party. Well, they’re doing better though. Not as good as before, but, you know. Diefenbaker was a real statesman, you know? You knew what he stood for.
“I went the Liberal meeting here, and Justin [Trudeau] was there.
“I came up to him, and he says to me, ‘Hello, Father. I didn’t think that you, as a Catholic Priest, would want to talk to me.’ And I said, ‘Why not? I knew your dad. But I came here to bawl you out, because you have no right to call yourself a Catholic and be for abortion.’
“He just almost froze, and he stood there.
“I said, ‘But Justin, I’m going to continue to pray for you.’
“One month later, I get a message from him. And he said, ‘Father, I want you to write to me.’ Since then, I’ve been writing to him.”
Undoubtedly, any new priest at St. Mary’s Ukranian Catholic Church will have rather large shoes to fill, but Father Kushko isn’t done yet: he’s got an autobiography in the works on his remarkable life.
