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2 THE SHEPHERD • MARCH 2023 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO “It isn’t me, one of the sheep, who is calling for your return, but the Good Shepherd!” This month, the parable of the Prodigal Son reminded us of those who are away, those we long to see. It also reminds us to look at our- selves. In the past, I have always focused on the son who was away and returned; hearing the reassuring message that if we are lost He will always welcome us home. But this year, I finally heard the message of the “good” son who was working in the field when he hears music welcoming his brother home to fa- ther’s house. Instead of rejoicing, he focuses on all that he has done while his brother was absent and wonders how his father can for- give his wasteful brother. As Father Andrew reminded us, even the good son wasn’t per- fect; like us, he sinned, he wasted his gifts, and needed to repent. The upcoming Lenten journey is an opportu- nity for us all to reset, to look into our hearts, ask for forgiveness, and offer all of the gifts He has given us. In a recent Daily Prayer message, Father Stavros wrote about being “engaged” members of the Church. He points out that we can go to church every Sunday and still not be engaged. He reminds us that in our faith we need to be both “consumers - learning and worshiping” and “producers - teaching and serving.” It has been said that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time - today. Today is a good day for us all to plant seeds of change. Many Blessings, Jim Gilpin Parish Council President FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL PRESIDENT Can you believe it? Great Lent is here. The bookstore has a wonderful selection of re- sources for your Lenten journey. In prepara- tion for this Holy season, we have gathered books for Great Lent and Pascha. Please visit and search our shelves dedicated to this Holy season. We are stocking a new book: The Road Back to Christ: Reflections on Lent, Holy Week and the Resurrection written by Fr. Stavros N. Akrotirianakis. This new book is a series of short daily reflections on the scripture readings of Holy Week and the accounts of the Resurrection and post-Res- urrection appearances of Christ. It will guide you through Christ’s journey, and reinvigo- rate your faith through prayer and a deeper understanding of the Passion and Resurrec- tion of Jesus Christ. Other inspiring Lenten books to search for include:The Cruci xion of the King of Glory: The Amazing History and Sublime Mystery of the Passion by Presvytera Eugenia Scarv- elis Constantinou, PhD; Great Lent-Journey to Pascha by Alexander Schmemann; The Lenten Spring by Fr. Thomas Hopko; Med- itations for Great Lent, Holy Week, and Pas- cha by Vassilios Papavassiliou; Great Week and Pascha In the Greek Orthodox Church by Alkiviadis Calivas; and The Lenten Litur- gies in the original Greek with translation. Our traditional Greek Orthodox Holy Week Service book by Fr. George Papadeas is also stocked. Lastly, it is not too late to pick up your: 2023 Daily Lives, Miracles &Wisdom of the Saints & Fasting calendar. Our staff joins in wishing our parishioners and friends a blessed Lenten season! Stephanie Mourafetis, Mary Mastorakos, Pat Tsopanoglou, Collette Pepelis, and Francesca Captain BOOKSTORE With the recent approval of the Parish Coun- cil and the St. Spyridon Hellenic Foundation, the Parish has taken an exciting step towards the realization of the Parish Master Plan by hiring the civil engineering and planning firm Project Design Consultants (PDC) to prepare plans to submit an application to the City of San Diego for vacation of the alley that bisects our properties. How much will this cost the Parish? The Foundation has donated $30,000 to the Par- ish for this purpose and the Parish will pay the difference anticipated to be approximate- ly $10,000. This will cover the cost of the engineering work (approx. $30,000) and the city fees (approx. $10,000). Who is PDC? PDC is a local civil engineer- ing and land planning firm. They were also part of the feasibility study consultant team. The committee solicited proposals from three engineering firms and PDC’s was the best choice. When will the application be submitted to the city for review? PDC anticipates being ready to submit the application to the city within the next two to three weeks. What happens after the application is sub- mitted to the city? The city’s Development Services Department will begin reviewing the application. This will ultimately lead to submittal to the City Council for approval af- ter review and approval by city staff and the city’s Planning Commission. How long will the process take? The entire process could take from a year to eighteen months or possibly more. What happens then, assuming the applica- tion is approved? Assuming our request is approved by the City Council, the Parish and the Foundation will take ownership of the al- ley. This will allow us to take control of the space. How about maintenance of the alley? We will be responsible for maintenance of the alley but since it will be our property, we can make changes as we see fit. As it stands now the city has not done any maintenance there for at least 40 years so nothing will really change. Won’t all the utilities in the alley have to be moved? No, easements will be put in place for the utilities currently located in the alley. They will not need to be moved or relocated. The utilities in the alley include SDGE pow- er lines, telephone and cable TV lines, and a sanitary sewer line that serves only proper- ties on the alley. There are no other utilities in the alley. This is an exciting step. If you have any ques- tions about this or anything else master plan related, please don’t hesitate to stop me on Sunday, email me at art@hampstead.com or call me at 858-204-1012. Art Balourdas PARISH CAMPUS MASTER PLAN UPDATE t h e crucifixion o f t h e king of glory The Amazing History and Sublime Mystery of the passion Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, PhD RELIGION /BiblicalCommentary /New Testament / Jesus, theGospels&Acts RELIGION /Christianity /Orthodox THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE KING OF GLORY CONSTANTINOU T he Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ are central events in our salvation. Yet few Chris- tians have a good grasp of the first-century historical and religious context in which the Crucifixion took place, nor of its true significance for the people of that time—and hence for our time as well. Biblical scholarDr. Jeannie Constanti- nou puts modern readers in thecenterof theeventsof Christ’s Passion, bringing the best of modern schol- arship to bear while keeping her interpretation faithful in every particular to the Ortho- dox Tradition. t h e crucifixion o f t h e king of glory TheCrucifixionof theKingofGloryCoverSpread (CZ).indd 1 1/11/22 12:57PM