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1 THE SHEPHERD • MARCH 2022 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO FROM THE DESK OF FATHER ANDREW www.theshepherdnews.com The Shepherd Newsletter My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Great and Holy Lent is upon us as is Clean Mon- day (March 7, 2022). Clean Monday is the day when the Church, you and I, begin our forty day fast, which brings us to Great and Holy Week (the third ode of the Tri-o-di-on). For us Orthodox Christians, the Lenten Fast is our time of renewal, our revival if you will. e Lenten Fast is the most intense commu- nal fast period the Church o ers during the liturgical year. e Lenten Fast is the most intense because its subject matter is so pro- found: the Trial, Passion, Cruci xion and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and our response to it. If not for our blessed faith in the Cruci xion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our assured hope of being resurrected unto eternal life is lost. Saint Paul reminds us: the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God (I Cor. 1:18). erefore, like many times in the Old Testament we mark these life- saving events with a fast. By marking these events in a real way we acknowledge God’s love and outwardly show God that we need and want Him in our lives. e Great Fast is an opportunity for us to grow both physically and spiritually. It is an opportunity for us to be reminded of the words of St. Paul: All things are lawful to me but not all things are bene cial. All things are lawful to me but I will not be enslaved by any- thing (I Cor. 6:12-20). Fasting from certain/most types of food, for a prescribed period of time, is or should be just the beginning of our spiritual jour- ney. We begin with food because food was involved at the beginning of our (humani- ty’s) separation from God. e desire for a piece of fruit had much to do with drawing us away from God. e pitfall of our physi- cal food fast is that we have the tendency to focus on food and we have di culty going beyond that prescribed fast. Jesus reminds us however, that the three devotional prac- tices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer must go hand in hand if any spiritual fruit is to be had. One of the Church fathers rea rms that truth. e following are some of St. John Chrysostom’s poignant words about fasting: e value of fasting consists not only in the abstinence of food, but also in the relinquish- ment of sinful practices. For a person who fasts only from meat, is a person who disparages the fast. Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works. If you see a poor man, take pity on him. If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him. Do not let your mouth only fast, but also the eye, and the ear, the feet, and the hands, and all the members of your body. Let the mouth fast from foul words and gossip. For what good is it if you abstain from birds and shes, but bite and devour your brother with your tongue? Looking is the food of the eyes. erefore, do not feed upon licentiousness by means of the eyes. e fasting of the ear con- sists in not receiving evil talk and calumnies. Let the feet fast by ceasing from running to for- bidden spectacles. Let the hands fast by being pure from plundering and avarice. If anything is unlawful and forbidden, it mars the fast and jeopardizes the entire safety of the soul. If anything is lawful and safe, it tends to beau- tify fasting. It would be an instance of utmost absurdity, because of the fast, to abstain from meat and from lawful food, but with the mem- bers of the body, feed upon what is forbidden. My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we begin with food, but we must always try to ascend higher in our attempt to fast. Our devotion continues 3 IN THIS ISSUE FR. ANDREW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 1 PRESIDENT OF THE PARISH COUNCIL, PARISH VISION UPDATE, WOMEN OF THE WORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 2 CHOIR, BIRTHS, DEATHS, MEMORIALS, HOLY SACRAMENTS, DIVINE SERVICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 3 GREEK LANGUAGE SCHOOL, PAPANICOLAOU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 4 GOYA NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 5 PHILOPTOCHOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 6 ZATHAS FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS, SUNDAY SCHOOL, BOOKSTORE. . . . . p. 8 2022 STEWARDSHIP PLEDGE, STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . p.9 CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 10 2022 LENTEN SERVICE SCHEDULE . . p. 11 CONTACT INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . p. 12 The Shepherd The official newsletter publication for the parish of Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church of San Diego I S S U E 3 1 0 • MA R C H 2 0 2 2

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