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2 THE SHEPHERD • APRIL 2021 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO Several weeks ago, Father Andrew asked me “Demetri, what are your rules for Lent?” I immediately thought about what I was going to give up this year for Lent. en I decided to search the “rules” of Lent and stumbled across an article on goarch.com - “And When You Fast” by Father Stavros N. Akrotirianakis. In the article, Father Stav- ros characterizes fasting as spiritual disci- pline rather than a form of deprivation. He reminds us that “Lent is about repentance, and making small and permanent changes to bring us closer to the Lord, changes that will last long a er Lent is over.” e article also included a link to the Prayer Team Daily Devotion, which sends you a daily email prayer and re ection each morn- ing. I highly recommend joining. is morn- ing I received a re ection about Zacchaeus, the despised tax collector who climbed the tree to see Jesus (Luke 19:5-10 (from the 2nd Gospel)). In the story, we hear about Christ picking Zacchaeus out of the crowd, calling to him to come down from the tree, and go- ing to his house. Zacchaeus was so moved that he repented and changed his ways, of- fering to repay four times the value of what he had stolen from people and giving half of what was le to the poor. Zacchaeus knew he wanted to see Jesus when he climbed the tree, but when he came down from the tree he learned that Jesus not only saw him but wanted to know him. Like Zacchaeus, we can accept Christ’s invi- tation and come down from our tree. We can make small and permanent changes to bring us closer to Christ. During Lent, we will be holding services in the Sanctuary, as well as holding outdoor services to accommodate all who want to come on Palm Sunday, Holy Unction on Holy & Great Wednesday, the Lamentations on Holy & Great Friday, and the Resurrection Service w/ Divine Liturgy to follow on Holy & Great Saturday. I hope you will join us. God Bless. Jim Gilpin Parish Council President Yes, the storage dungeon is fewweeknights and aweeken adjacent to the Kitchen. Reno anddisposalofallcabinetsand walls were prepped and RFP open, and brighter room via u lighting, aswell as heavy duty have a few finishing touches t nextcoupleofweeks. Special thanks for theirhardwo somewell-deserved breaks) fo JimLeventis,CoreyLeventis, a request forall topleasemakea cleanandorganized,whilealso that youmay“forget”behind. Πιστεύουμε ότι θα σας αρέσε στην Κουζίνα. Όλη η ομάδα π διατηρήσουμε και μελλοντικά καθαριότητα αυτού τού χώρο μας! Regards, Vlassiand theTeam FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL PRESIDENT WOMEN WORD OF THE Even though we are still only meeting on- line, we are grateful to God that we have had some very helpful discussions over the past month. We have found that although the topic for each week seems distinct and comes from a variety of di erent sources, it always turns back to how do we understand the commandments of our faith and how must we act as Christians “living in the world, but not of the world?” Several of our discussions last month tied these ideas more closely together. One of these was a focus on this petition found over 8 times in the Orthros and Divine Liturgy service: “let us commit ourselves and one an- other and our whole life to Christ our God.” In a Monthly Meditation on our Metropolis website, Fr. Eliades writes, “ is line is the key to our life. We must be faithful to God with our entire being…our faith should in- form everything we do. We nd an important line to remember in Psalm 142, ‘Teach me to do Your Will for You are my God.’ Every part of our life must be based in Him. For the sake of the world, for the sake of others, for the sake of ourselves.” As we thought about what it means “to commit one another to Christ our God,” it took us back to our previous discus- sion in October and November when we dis- cussed Christ’s greatest commandment of all - to love one another - and what it means to be able to see Christ in each person that we encounter in our lives, no matter the circum- stances or the di erences. Our discussion about St. Paul’s Romans 12- 15 helped us to deepen our understanding of this commitment where he gives us a long list of ways that a true Christian should act in the world and towards one another: “Let love be without hypocrisy… in honor giving preference to one another, fervent in spirit, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, con- tinuing steadfastly in prayer… Be of the same mind toward one another, associate with the humble, live peaceably with all men.” is ad- vice seems to be a good goal for our Lenten journey – how to improve our relationships with one another and to be aware of how we put our faith into action. Wishing everyone all God’s peace, love and strength as we continue our journey to Pascha. With Love in Christ, + e Women of the Word Bible Study Group Contact information: susanmiserlis@gmail.com BEAUTY SHOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU Marian Khoury Dougenis | 619.520.3660 | www.beautycounter.com/mariankhoury Beautycounter Consultant SUNDAY SCHOOL We are pleased to announce that In-Person Sunday School began on Sunday, March 14th! In-Person Class will be held outdoor in the Sunday School Courtyard from 11:15am – 11:45am, for All Grade Levels . When you arrive for Divine Services, please let the volunteer know that your children will be attending In-Person Sunday School. We will continue to o er Online Sunday School Classes also each Sunday from 11:50am – 12:20pm via Zoom. Please use the Zoom ID provided by your teacher. We have implemented a number of safety measures including being outdoor for class, hand sanitizer stations, six feet of social distancing, and masks requirement. For a full list of safety measures, please email sundayschool.stspyridon@gmail.com If you would like to be on the Sunday School Reopening Team and help once per month, contact Julie Dennis at the email address above.