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2 THE SHEPHERD • APRIL 2023 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO We are in the midst of Lent and my thoughts and prayers are with all of you as we prepare for the Resurrection. Over the weeks, we have heard the stories of His ministry and been reminded to “come and see.” We were also reminded of the importance friends can play in helping us to come to our faith when we are “paralyzed.” While faith is ultimately a personal choice, we see over and over again the role encouragement and the support of others plays in our spiritual lives. I hope each of us will find a minute to reach out to a friend in need and plant a seed of hope. I am also hopeful that you will come and see what’s happening at St. Spyridon. This final stretch of Lent will be filled with opportuni- ties for all of us to participate in our faith. On Sunday, April 9th immediately following the Divine Liturgy, our GOYA youth will be hosting the Palm Sunday Luncheon. Please contact Bill Navrides to get a ticket for the luncheon. On Friday, April 14th, our Youth Leaders will be hosting the Holy Friday Retreat for youth in Grades PK-5th. The theme is “The Guiding Light of Pascha.” Please contact Julie Dennis if you have any questions. On Sunday, April 16th, we will have our an- nual Pascha Picnic at Admiral Baker Park from 11:00AM to 4:00PM. The St. Spyridon Greek Dance and Choral program is selling advance tickets for a traditional Greek lamb lunch including roasted lamb, rice, vegeta- ble side, bread, salad, and dessert. Tickets are $25 each and will be sold pre-sale only. Please contact Timmy Paraskevopoulos if you would like to purchase a ticket. HolyWeek presents us all with an opportuni- ty to start anew. It is an opportunity to come and see, to bear witness to the resurrection of Christ. It is an opportunity to stand together in the darkness and receive the light, to re- new our faith and to gather in fellowship and rejoice in His Resurrection. If we are com- mitted to our faith, we are willing to be it, to live it, and to share it. Through our collective commitment, our community will remain vibrant and alive. Many Blessings, Jim Gilpin Parish Council President FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL PRESIDENT continues 3 Due to personal circumstances our study of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews has come to an early closure this year. We were able to complete together almost all of the chapters of Hebrews except the last two which mem- bers can read and digest on their own. Per- haps after Pascha sometime our WOW study group will reassess where we are as a minis- try and get a better idea about how we may organize our study next year. In the past, we have not done a study over the late spring and summer as these are times when mem- bers tend to travel and do other things with their families. We did, however, end our whole group meet- ings this year on a very positive note – with the joyous occasion of attending the recep- tion of one of our members, Andrea, into the Orthodox Church through the Service of Adult Baptism. Many of us were able to participate in this enlightening service either as witnesses or as sponsors and were great- ly moved and illumined by the various parts and meaningful prayers that took place. There was present so much blessing, good will, and powerful prayers to set the catechu- men’s feet firmly upon the path to salvation. Some of these were: the exorcism in the nar- thex where the priest’s prayers ask the cate- chumen to renounce Satan and all his works and then attached a guardian angel to the new servant of God protected as “a warrior invincible” against the dark spiritual forces. This was followed by “the sanctification of the waters, the loosing of bonds, the illumination of the soul…that she who is baptized may be transformed, put away the old man, and be clothed with the new,” that is, she is baptized into a “life of regeneration.” This part also included “the oil of gladness” as an “armor of righteousness and to the averting of every assault of the devil.” After the triple immer- sion in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, she was sealed with the life-giving Chrismation. Taking on the name of Nektaria, after our beloved St. Nektarios of Pentapolis, the newly baptized then put on the “robe of righteousness.” In Andrea-Nek- taria’s case this was a beautiful white lay- ered garment that she herself had made. So important it was for all of us to take in the fullness of this sacrament and sensing the true responsibility we all share in caring for converts. Several of us who have witnessed many infant baptisms were able to see in this adult baptism of one of our own WOW sis- ters the true power of the sacrament’s mean- WOMEN WORD OF THE On Holy and Great Tuesday evening, the Church remembers two personalities who were close to Christ: the sinful woman who anoints Jesus' feet with costly ointment with her hair, and Judas Iscariot the betrayer. The sinful woman was washed clean by the tears of her repentance. She experienced a second Baptism if you will, and was made anew. Unlike Judas who had a certain intimacy with Jesus, he who heard His sermons, witnessed His many miracles and healings, broke bread and walked with, and most likely, at times, slept nearby with the other disciples. In oth- er words, he became very close to Jesus, close enough to “breathe in His divine grace” but could not come to truly trust or genuinely love Him. Judas loved money more than the Master and goes on to betray Him, even “with a kiss.”The sinful woman kissed Jesus' feet and was forgiven because of her repentance; but Judas kissed His cheek and was condemned because of his lust for money. One sought the gift of eternal life, the other the gift of silver, each receiving their due reward. My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, as we draw ever closer to the arrest, trial, passion, cru- cifixion, and ultimately the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior that will play out during Great and Holy Week, let us remember the words of the Gospel where Jesus says: "I have come into the world as a light, so that, who- ever believes in me may not remain in dark- ness." Let us pray that Christ our true God enlightens our hearts and minds, our souls and our bodies to allow us to become more like the Noble Joseph, the Five Wise Virgins, and the Tearful Woman, as we await our Bridegroom who will one day call His Bride, you and I, the Church, back to Himself. Let us pay closer attention to the hymn of Bride- groom chanted on those evenings and be more attentive to its words, because: “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming in the middle of the night; and blessed is the servant He shall find awake and watching; unworthy is the other He shall find being lazy. So beware, O soul of mine, be not overcome by sleep, so that you not be handed over to death and be shut out from the Kingdom. Come to your senses and cry aloud: Holy, holy, holy are You our God. Through the Theotokos have mercy on us.” +A 2 FR. ANDREW