In Remembrance - Fr. Patrick F.Hussey, S.J.

reflections by Fr. Robert J. Scullin, S.J.

Fr. Patrick F. Hussey, S.J. died August 5, 2008, at Colombiere Center in Clarkston, Michigan.  

The readings from Fr. Hussey’s Mass of Resurrection were chosen with the hope of moving us to gratitude to God for the particular way we experienced the presence of God in our life through and with Fr. Pat Hussey.  In Isaiah 11:1-9 we read, “No harm on all God’s holy mountain.”  It shows a vision that may simply baffle us with images so contrary to our life experience—the lion with the lamb, no harm on God’s holy mountain. 

In a real way Father Pat baffled a lot of us with his energy and intensity, his childlike enthusiasm for so much.  Sometimes I wondered if we didn’t live parallel universes!  But that’s the radical restoration Isaiah foresees.  Wholeness and renewal were deep desires for Fr. Pat, though the road to that restored harmony could be challenging.  Fr. Pat exercised his priestly ministry in schools, universities, hospitals, and parishes.  He accompanied groups on pilgrimages to the Holy Land.  He spent a year in Eastern Africa working with religious sisters.

In recent years, he served as a chaplain to Retrouvaille, a program to help couples with marriage problems.  He was also involved in the Marriage Encounter Movement in Los Angeles. He touched many people as witnessed by the tremendous outpouring of cards and e-mails over the past few months.  I know he touched the lives of our health care staff at Colombiere, in the way he moved toward his death, up until the end to see Christ in the person before him.

The passage from the first letter of John (1 John 3: 1-2) describes all of us as God’s children.  Father Pat seemed to have a childlike wonder that never left him, even in his last weeks at Colombiere.  He was filled with wonder, appreciation and gratitude.

The passage from the Gospel according to St. Matthew (Matthew 11:25-30) speaks to Father Pat’s closeness to the Lord who reveals himself more easily to the childlike than to the sophisticated.

I am sure that he also knew throughout his Jesuit life the whole range of struggles and disappointments and heartaches we all experience, but he chose to take that suffering to his Lord and to show us, most of the time, great interest, solicitude, and wonder.

I was going away, but wanted to see Pat before I did.  I saw him about 10 days before he died.  I said, “Pat, I may not see you by the time I get back, but, if not, I know that you will be with me in another way.”  Isn’t that what we believe when we speak of the communion of saints?  Our dear ones, and especially Fr. Patrick F. Hussey, SJ, are no less present to us, although in a different way.  While we may not be aware of their presence, the Letter to the Hebrews encourages us to remember that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, Fr. Pat among them, who reminds us that from the start of life to its finish, each of us is first and always a child of God.

In the Liturgy of the Eucharist we join the life of our beloved brother and friend to the victorious life of Jesus Christ.  I like to imagine each of us is like a fired piece of precious tile and all of these tiles together make up the mosaic of the glorious body of Christ.  Bit by bit, each of us becomes like a precious tile, fired in the oven of our days of discipleship, and now, one, small, beautiful part of the image of the Whole Christ.

Biographical Information

Father Hussey was born November 5, 1936 in Steubenville, Ohio. He entered the Society of Jesus on February 1, 1951 at Milford, Ohio.  He was ordained June 12, 1968 at Colombiere College (Clarkston, Michigan). He pronounced final vows in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, on February 2, 1979.

Fr. Hussey taught at University of Detroit High School from 1962-1965, at Walsh Jesuit High School (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) from 1969-1981 and again from 1984-85. He was a retreat and spiritual director at Jesuit Retreat House (Parma, Ohio) from 1981-82. He was an assistant chaplain at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) from 1982-1983.  From 1986-1992 he did pastoral work in the Marquette diocese in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  Fr. Hussey then served as a hospital chaplain in Toledo (Ohio) from 1993-1997.  From 1997-1998 he was involved in the Marriage Encounter Movement in Los Angeles and also served as a chaplain to Retrouvaille, a program to help couples with marriage problems.  In 1998, Fr. Hussey returned to teaching and counseling at St. John's High School in Toledo and remained there until moving to Colombiere in early 2008.