Welcome back! These first few days of school at St. Benedict Classical Academy have been so edifying. Although much work is completed over the summer, it always feels a little odd to go to work in a school building where no children are present. It is a breath of fresh air when the children return, and this year has been no different.
Last Thursday on our first full day of the school year, our chaplain, Fr. Stamm, celebrated the Mass of the Holy Spirit for our Kindergarten through Grade 7 students. It was such a beautiful Mass and the children were so reverent as Father offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In his homily Father Stamm welcomed everyone back, directly welcoming the sixth and seventh-grade students as the oldest leaders in our school. He even remarked how wonderful their new uniforms are and make them stand out as leaders. He also noted how many new people, students, teachers, and staff, were at Mass. While reflecting on our school’s incredible growth over the nine years he has been our chaplain, he noted, “Healthy things grow.” That very short, and somewhat self-evident reflection struck me.
It is remarkable to me that this community has grown so much in the ten years since my family and I first arrived from Alabama. It is even more remarkable that we will grow beyond our quaint schoolhouse on the Charles to include a new beautiful campus on Union Street. However, it is not only impressive…it is a blessing! The reason for the increased number of students, families, faculty, and staff (and the reason for the expansion of our new building) is because of the community itself. It is a healthy and vibrant community. I told the staff in our first Back to School meeting in August, “The thing I love most about this school is my children’s friends,” and it is true. Of course, to be sure, I mean their particular friends, but even more so I mean this community. I love who I get to work with, I love who I get to see in the pickup line (though that can be stressful and it may not always seem like love…but it is!), and I love the students who high five me each day as they enter the building. This is a community with a positive and shared vision for our mission, and it is a blessing to live that every day.
In Mark’s Gospel, Christ tells his disciples about the sower of seed who spread seed on many different types of soil. He says that many seeds fell on bad soil and they yielded nothing. However, he then says, “And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4: 8-9) This school and its community has grown because the seed has fallen on good soil. Let us all continue to commit ourselves to the sacred mission of forming young children into saints of Heaven. Let us all re-commit ourselves to the teachings of Christ and His Church. Let us all continue to pray for our school, our Church, and the world. Healthy things do grow. Please God let this school continue to grow well beyond itself, and we can, with Christ, renew the face of the earth.
AUTHOR: Jay Boren, Headmaster
