Profile - Brother Patrick Cassidy, FSC
Brother Patrick Cassidy is a Christian Brother and an administrator at Hudson Catholic High School in Jersey City, New Jersey. He is one of the first people students meet when they arrive at the urban school each morning. His job has him more in the hallways than the classrooms. His interactions with students include everything from addressing academic concerns and helping to settle inter-personal conflicts to providing an understanding ear during challenging moments and a laudatory voice to celebrate achievements.
Brother Patrick lives near the school with eight other Christian Brothers and it is there he finds the strength that comes from community living and common prayer. “Being a brother is really being with others,” says Brother Patrick, who recalls the Christian Brothers founder who started the community to serve others -- poor young people and the middle class who needed education.
Brother Patrick lists three key elements that make up a brother’s life: ministry, prayer and community.
When he speaks of who is called to be a brother, he says he looks around for “young men who have a sense of how God works in their everyday lives, at home or school or on the streets” and who reflect “a sensitivity for the poor.” He nurtures vocations by being true to what he professes. “I’m a brother,” he says. “I just do what a brother does. I am Patrick Cassidy, but because I have ‘Brother’ in front of my name it calls me to something greater than myself.”
To arrange interviews with Brother Patrick or any of the individuals featured in the “You Could Make A Difference” campaign, contact Sister Mary Ann Walsh, 202-541-3200, mwalsh@usccb.org.