#adventboston

Want to know more about your fellow parishioners? How better to get to know people than asking about their reading life. That’s what “Shelf Life” is for — every so often we ask a parishioner to share a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their lives as readers.

This month, get to know Maria Denslow!

What’s on your nightstand right now?

My Bible 

A book I am rereading, "Sanctuary Sparrow," a Brother Cadfael mystery

What are some books you regularly re-read, and why? 

St Augustine's “City of God”

Prayers from the Desert Fathers

All C. S. Lewis

"The Orthodox Way" by Timothy Ware

“Cost of Discipleship,” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

Reflections of St Therese the little flower 

I reread them because they provide depth and insight about Christ and living a Christian life when I need reminders or will notice different themes.

What books have most profoundly shaped how you live and love God and others?

C. S. Lewis' “A Grief Observed”

A Thomas Fosberry book on grieving

Helen Keller's "We Bereaved"

These books helped me move forward following my brother Will's death.  There is no roadmap for grief even for Christian grief. These books acknowledge the depth of pain (they do not trivialize it as many books do), yet they focus on Our Lord and His Love for us and how this life is worth living well for Christ. They also point toward  the correct questions for us to ask (not the childish questions of why).

What biographies or autobiographies have most influenced you and why?

St Therese the little flower

C. S. Lewis

St Francis of Assisi

Thomas a Beckett

These people were all ordinary and flawed individuals but for their love of Christ. Christ's love made them extraordinary and able to handle issues and obstacles that deemed insurmountable. Also Helen Keller because few people realize her extraordinary mind and how Christ carried her forward despite losing people that she relied on just to live every day and who really understood her.  She bore no anger or bitterness but found the joys in everyday experiences

During a time of widespread unrest -- as we listen to President Obama address tragedies as far away as Iraq and as close as Ferguson, Missouri -- what better time to remember one of our own (we definitely claim JMD @ the Advent) and commemorate his life and martyrdom.

Pray, God, that we would faithfully fulfill our mission today as he did almost 40 years ago.