TSN0821

2 THE SHEPHERD • AUGUST 2021 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO Asking for help; why is it so di cult? None of us is expected to go it alone, but we of- ten struggle to ask for help. Jesus told us that the most important commandments are to love Him and to love one another, to serve one another. It’s easy to see that if we never serve someone else, we are not keeping his commandment. Yet, if we never let another serve / help us, we are not allowing them to keep His commandment. Christian service is a two-sided coin, we need to serve and to let others serve us. We can’t only serve, nor can we only be served. Our opportunity to serve, is not always be- ing asked, “will you help?” More o en, it is a situation, e.g., someone drops their gro- ceries in the parking lot. God tells us to love our neighbor, and our neighbor is the per- son who is next to us at a given moment, the stranger on the street or the person we don’t know in the pew next to us on Sunday. To “serve” means to o er help in whatever way help is needed. To truly serve is to do what- ever is needed, whether that is answers God’s call for our lives, or answering the call to serve. If we truly seek to serve God in every circumstance, we have to be open to serving others as they need, not necessarily in the way or manner we want. We can all say “I’m here to serve” but does that mean, “I’m literally here to do whatev- er is helpful?” We should all feel the urge to serve and to give others the opportunity to serve. It is important that we freely o er help, but also important that we freely ask for help. I’m asking for help – our community needs all of us to o er our gi s and to o er our help to our neighbor in need. Many Blessings, 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 As things begin to reopen, we are now plan- ning to resume our weekly in-person meet- ings in September. We may still need to make some adjustments, and in particular we are looking into the feasibility of still allowing some people to join us via Zoom. Our Women of the Word group is planning to sponsor a Fellowship Hour a er the Sun- day Liturgy in late August. At that time, we will also have a signup table in the hall, and as we have done for several years now, we hope to provide an Opportunity Drawing for someone to receive a specially tabbed Or- thodox Study Bible. We will announce more detailed information as we get closer to that event. Our planned study for this coming year will be on the book, e Holy Angels, by Mother Alexandra. e author is the former Prin- cess Ileana of Romania who was exiled a er World War II and later in life became a nun and founded the Monastery of the Trans g- uration in Pennsylvania. Her book is a very thorough and thoughtful attempt to present the key teachings of our Orthodox Church about the angels in both the Old and New Testaments and also within the Tradition and teachings of the Church as expressed in our services, hymns, icons, and prayers. By studying these angels our hope is to be- come more familiar with this part of God’s creation as expressed in our Creed “I believe in one God, Creator of Heaven and earth and all things visible and invisible” and to better understand the role that angels play in our salvation. We already know something about these angels just by listening carefully to one of the priest’s prayers during the Divine Lit- urgy: “You are surrounded by thousands of Archangels and tens of thousands of Angels, by the Cherubim and Seraphim, six-winged, many-eyed, soaring with their wings, singing the victory hymn, proclaiming, crying out and saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth, Heaven and earth are full of Your glory…” ese prayers make us more aware that an- gels are real, truly present, and constantly glorifying and praising God. As Mother Alexandra tells us, “the angels mingle their prayers with ours, carrying them to God on High, until we shall all stand before the rone of God and ‘know even as we are known.’” (1Cor. 13:12) May it be so! We pray that all may have a most fruitful 15 Days of August and blessed Feasts of the continues 3 20% OFF NEW CLIENT PROMOTION Marian Khoury Dougenis Beautycounter Consultant 619.520.3660 www.beautycounter.com/mariankhourydougenis Bon Voyage! Dear Seniors, Please join us on Tuesday, September 14th at 11am for a homecoming celebration! It has been a long, rough year and I’m so thrilled that it’s nally time to get together and enjoy each other’s company. We will be hosting lunch, so RSVP to Cynthia Samarkos at 619-582-4109 or tedcynsam@cox.net no later than September 7th so we can plan accordingly. Can’t wait to see you all! With lots of love, Sophia Mellos SENIORS PANARCADIANS Greetings, Pan Arcadians, and welcome to the new and improved 2021. We are moving forward and getting ready to reconvene a er so many dark months. We are busy planning our rst meeting for ursday, September 30th, 2021 , in the educational building, at 7:00pm. e board is so excited to get started again. We will begin the evening with a pot- luck, as usual, then move on to an exciting meeting with so much to address. Much has happened since we last met, so we are look- ing forward to catching up and moving on- ward. Bring your thinking caps as we start with a fresh sense of purpose. We have much to discuss.