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2 THE SHEPHERD • MARCH 2026 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO At the recent Clergy–Laity conference, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros spoke to us about our faith. He emphasized that our faith is not merely a passive belief, but “an active, living, and dynamic force” which manifests through action, engagement with others, and expressions of love. With so much happening at the Church it is easy to lose sight of our calling, to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor. It is easy to forget our love and compassion in our day-to-day encounters, as we gather in the pews filled with little ones and new people, as we plan for our 100 year celebration, as we enter the parking lot with all the spaces filled, we need to remind ourselves to listen compassionately, with patience and under- standing. Otherwise, we can get distracted by the noise allowing our heads to be filled with negative thoughts, and those thoughts then become our words and actions prevent- ing us from putting our faith into action and expressing our love for one another. Listening to the parable of the prodigal son, I was reminded just how easy it is to cast ourselves as the older son, to see ourselves as loyal, diligent, and dutiful, yet overlook our lack of forgiveness and feelings of enti- tlement. We overlook the plank in our own eye seeing only the speck in others. The Lenten journey is a time for us all to re- pent - to have a sincere desire to change and make our way back to our Father. It is a time to remind ourselves that no one is as loyal as the older son claimed to be, no one hasn’t wasted a portion of the gifts He has given us; no one hasn’t taking steps away from Him; and no one isn’t in need of repentance. In our repentance, we come to realize that we are all in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. In that realization, we can recognize that we too need to give grace and forgiveness to others and share love with all our brothers and sisters. Many blessings, Jim Gilpin Parish Council President FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL PRESIDENT SCENES OF MINISTRY & REVELATION We had a fruitful time of discovery and dis- cussion on Saturday, February 14th, when we shared our bag lunches and some Valen- tine’s goodies after the Saturday of Souls Di- vine Liturgy. Our study included four pow- erful icons from the ministry of Christ in the gospels: The Samaritan Woman at the Well, Christ Calming the Storm at Sea, The Feed- ing of the Five Thousand, and The Trans- figuration. Each icon contained a treasure house of images instructing us in our faith through colorful Biblical scenes and char- acters. We added to our understanding and identification of recurring elements found in Orthodox icons, and encouraged one anoth- er in our small groups, sharing the personal meaning and lessons we found in the many examples of each icon. We are looking forward to our March meet- ing at which we will explore the icons of Holy Week and the Resurrection. Our slightly longer readings this month will be a helpful enrichment to our Lenten journeys in prepa- ration for Holy Week and Pascha. Our regular meeting date in April falls on Holy Saturday, so there will be no WOW gathering that day. We will conclude our study with the final chapter of our book on the second Saturday of May. All women of the church and their friends are still wel- come to join us for these last two sessions! Please contact Kay Harkins for information: kayharkins@mac.com . WOMEN WORD OF THE BOOKSTORE Can you believe it? Great Lent is here. The be- ginning of the Triodion was last month, and it is a period of preparation that will lead us to Pascha and the Lord’s Resurrection. As we heard from our Sunday sermons, we’ll pray more. Fast more. Give more alms. We’ll do everything the Pharisee did... but, of course, we don’t want to be like the Pharisee. We don’t want to fall into the deception of turn- ing inwards, congratulating ourselves for “be- ing good” and trusting in our own spiritual accomplishments. Instead, we want to turn our attention to wise and holy teachers who can help us grow as Orthodox Christians. The bookstore has a great selection of re- sources to help us grow in our journey through Lent. Meditation for Great Lent is a gem of a book to inspire you for the Fast and to give you encouragement as you pur- sue your Lenten period. The Road Back to Christ: Reflections on Lent, Holy Week and the Resurrection is a series of short daily reflections on the scripture readings to and through Holy Week, and the accounts of the Resurrection and post-Resurrection appear- ances of Christ. Another inspiring book to search for is: The Crucifixion of the King of Glory: The Amazing History and Sublime Mystery of the Passion. Dr. Jeannie Con- stantinou puts readers in the center of the events of Christ’s Passion, bringing the best of modern scholarship to bear while keep- ing her interpretation faithful to the Ortho- dox Tradition. Reviews highly recommend this book during Lent and ultimately Holy Week. Another fairly new book that is high- ly recommended is Pilgrimage to Pascha–A Daily Devotional for Great Lent. This book of meditations is based on Scripture, an- cient hymns, and writings from the Church Fathers during the 40 day period of Lent. A long road is ahead of us as we prepare for Pascha, come take a look, and pick up a book that will be helpful! Lastly, it is not too late to pick up your 2026 Daily Lives, Miracles &Wisdom of the Saints & Fasting Calendar. Wishing you all a blessed Lent! Stephanie Mourafetis, Mary Mastorakos, Pat Tsopanoglou, Francesca Captain, Hitomi Shue, and Kaylin Marino ADVERTISE IN THE SHEPHERD NEWSLETTER! BUSINESS ADS AND PERSONAL GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS AVAILABLE AT LOW RATES! FOR DETAILS, EMAIL INFO@THESHEPHERDNEWS.COM OR CALL 858.292.6070