Benefactor kindness
and hopeful
determination of a
Sacred Heart professor
make running track
dream real.
Daniel Gallio
Seminarian Derik Peterman puts the new quarter-mile running track
to good use. Arborists relocated trees to clear the way for the track.
F
r. Richard Cassidy had
just returned to the
seminary after forty years
away. It was September
2004, and the former
seminarian (College Class
of 1964), parish priest,
and university professor
had been invited back
by the rector, Fr. Steven
Boguslawski, OP, to join
the faculty as professor of
Sacred Scripture.
32
Father Cassidy returned with exemplary
qualifications, including a PhD in Sacred
Scripture. He also returned with a dream.
“Book. Marathon. Track.”
What’s that, again?
“What’s the Plan?”
Sacred Heart’s building maintenance
team has had a long-standing tradition of
meeting in the refectory for a 9:30 AM
“coffee meeting” to touch base on the
day’s work duties. With coffee mug in
hand, Father Cassidy joined the table on
his first morning of teaching.
“What’s the plan, Father Cassidy?
What’s the program?” asked plant manager
Jerry Brown. Father and Mr. Brown, an employee at Sacred Heart since 1957, had been
friends since Father’s seminarian days.
Father thought for a moment. “Well,
Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Spring 2015
now that you ask, Jerry. Here is my ‘program.’ It has three parts.
“Book. Marathon. Track.”
The table members asked for an explanation. Father’s first “plan,” in addition
to his teaching duties was to complete a
book on Peter’s portrayal in the Gospels
(which indeed he published in 2006).
The second plan was to run another Boston Marathon (completed in 2005).
The third part of the Cassidy program?
“To see a running track built on the
seminary grounds.”
Off and Running
“I said to myself, ‘There’s a better
chance I will be president of the United
States than for a running track to be
built,’” laughs John Duncan, who was
present at the table that morning. As