Priest Minister

Fr. Ron Rusk's Biography

I was born in Pasadena, California March 17, 1942. I went to St. Elisabeth School until the end of the sixth grade, except for one year at Sacred Heart because of where we lived.

From as far as I can remember  I was up for Sunday Mass early. It was my mother's wish to go to 6:30 Mass. The support from my father, even though he was at the time not a catholic, gave me great deal of confidence that the Mass was very important.

In the Summer between my sixth and seventh year we moved to Huntington Beach. This was a town of 8000. I grew up in the activities of the parish in the choir for my first six years of school then an altar boy when we moved into St. Simon & Jude Huntington Beach. Having to attend CCD for the first two years was not so pleasant but there was no changing mom's mind that we needed to know the Church and its functions. We served until I finished High School, Catholic of course Mater  Dei.

I had gotten the idea I would become a priest in grammar school so at the end of my senior year I looked around with the assistance of the pastor in town. I joined the seminary in San Diego.

I was part of the music program in the seminary so therefore I added to the liturgy with my voice and musical instruments. The choral participation in Latin and English liturgies is what I really remember as impressive. It was not until my first parish during Penance on Saturdays (Confession at that time) involved me with the Mexican community. I learned then that I needed to learn Spanish. With this entrance into the language I found myself drawn into the culture of the community as well. As I moved from one parish to another i encountered more and more the Hispanic community and through the sacraments which are the liturgies of the people I became more and more acculturated.

In St. Anthony's Church in San Bernardino I had the opportunity to work with the Black community for the first time. The Gospel Mass we started  gave me the experience of a Spirit that I had never encountered in my life. Then I went to South America for five years and learned that there was an overwhelming expance to the Latin American culture way beyond just Mexican. I mentioned this to my community when I returned from South America and people who had been in the Mexican community made themselves known. The liturgies in these various Latino people were unique to there different cultures. Not just the Sacraments but Dias del Santo, procesiones, Adoradores, etc.

These various experiences have opened me to a much broader understanding of God's people and how he interacts with us all through his loving care. Please excuse me but I grew up with God as "Him" and it is very difficult to express myself differently.

Personal "Liturgical History"

St. Francis, Immaculate Heart Seminary, ordained May 31, 1968

Santa Rosa de Lima Chula Vista

Precious Blood, Banning

St. John's, Encinitas

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Calixio

St. Jude's, San Diego

St. Anthony's, San Bernardino

Oruro Bolivia

Castilla Piura Lima

Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, Ontario

Chuckawala State Prison

Ironwood State Prison

St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, Palm Springs

Fr. Ron Rusk

Priest Minister