The Seminarian's Bookshelves ...

Church School News

The Seminarian's Bookshelves

Greetings! I'm excited to be beginning this month a new column for Saint's Alive: "The Seminarian's Bookshelves ..." There are few pieces of furniture more sacrosanct to a seminarian than his bookshelves, and I imagine this may be true of some non-seminarians as well. In this column, I hope to offer some brief reflections on books, movies, CD's and other things that come to rest on my bookshelves throughout the year.

As it is Advent, I have been reflecting much on the idea of spiritual preparation. In Advent, we reflect not only on the preparations of Mary, Joseph, and John the Baptist to receive Jesus into their lives, but we also reflect on our own preparation to welcome the risen Christ into our own hearts. In the case of Mary's pregnancy this event was very tangible - but for us, the event of preparing our hearts for Christ is perhaps a bit more elusive.

One of the spiritual writers who has been able to make more concrete the idea of preparing our hearts, is the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. In his book Teachings on Love Hanh writes about preparing our souls to be more loving through spiritual practices. He stresses the importance of listening, observing that "Never in human history have we had so many means of communication - television, radio, telephone, fax, e-mail, the worldwide web - yet we remain islands, with little real communication between family members, individuals in society, or nations." By focusing on the practices of deep listening and loving speech, we can communicate in ways that reduce the violence done by speaking and acting without having first listened and reflected.

For Hanh, the practice of deep listening to others and to the world begins with the far more intimate practice of being able to listen to yourself. Learning how to touch the deep seeds of happiness and joy inside of ourselves opens us to communicate love rather than violence, for many in ways that we never knew we could before. Only through coming to accept and love ourselves, can we do the same for other people.

Teachings on Love invites its readers into practices of mindfulness through a stimulating blend of meditation, story, spiritual direction, and reflection. If you are looking for a book to help stimulate your Advent preparations for coming of Christ Jesus, I commend to you Thich Nhat Hanh's nourishing wisdom. When God came into the world last time in Jesus of Nazareth, the world's hearts could not hear his message of love. Let us prepare our own hearts to listen more deeply.

- Chris Wendell

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Why we're here

On Sunday, October 16, All Saints commemorated Children's Sabbath - organized by the Children's Defense Fund to make visible the needs of all children and young people in our nation, especially the poor. The Stewardship Committee also invited one of the young people of our parish to share his own experiences here. For these compelling words, I give my thanks to him!

Stefani Schatz, Dir of Religious Ed

"Good morning. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Charlie Bridge. My parents, Meg and Tom Bridge, have been worshipping and singing at All Saints since well before I was born, and so my sisters and I have been coming here on Sunday for our whole lives. I'd like to take just a few minutes this morning to explain to you why All Saints is so important to me.

Sunday is an interesting day of the week. On some calendars it begins the week, on others it ends it. I tend to think of Sunday as a sort of connector day between weeks. Sunday at All Saints provides me with a place of tranquility, peace, and spirituality in the midst of hectic school days, soccer games, and, this fall, deflating Red Sox losses. The Sunday service helps me recover from the previous week and become renewed by God for the upcoming one.

What is so renewing about this church? For me, it starts with the music. I belong to a very musical family, and so music is very important to me. Having been kicked out of Schola a few years ago after the dreaded voice change, I am now usually the only member of my family not contributing to the beautiful service music. Sometimes triumphant, sometimes poignant, the various choir anthems, Schola pieces, and organ preludes are always beautifully performed tributes to the glory of God. I can think of no better place to enjoy this beautiful music than in this sanctuary, spacious physically, but spiritually very intimate. This is a place of great beauty - the stained glass, the soaring ceiling, and the majestic organ are just a few of its characteristic features. It's comforting to know that, in a world of constant change, we can count on the familiar beauty of All Saints to greet us each week.

No matter how many times I return to All Saints, I am continually inspired by the prayer. I have recited the weekly prayers like the Nicene Creed so many times that I practically know them by heart, and often even the pages they can be found on. Many of the prayer books we use have been opened to the Eucharistic prayers so many times that these pages protrude slightly from the rest. Like the prayers, the pattern of the service is always the same - being a frequent acolyte and lector, I know what follows what and when I have to be where like I know the back of my hand. But, far from being boring, I think the uniformity of the service and prayers gives a deep feeling of comfort, simplicity, and normalcy.

All Saints, more than anything else, is a community - one that I am extremely proud to be a part of. Therefore I consider it right to do what I can to help this church by giving back. In this season of stewardship, I encourage everyone to examine what the All Saints community means to them, and to strongly consider giving something back. However the church uplifts and inspires you, please pledge generously - whether you offer time, talent, or treasure. With your help, we can make sure that All Saints will always be here to help us connect to God and to each other."

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