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2 THE SHEPHERD • OCTOBER 2024 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO Dear Fellow Steward of Saint Spyridon GOC: The Stewardship Committee would like to thank you for all your honorable stewardship efforts throughout the years. We are pleased to announce that the parish is once again having a fruitful year regarding our financial stewardship ministry. Thank you! However, we still have a little more work to do to reach our goal: to cover our operating expenses / budget using stewardship dollars only . Thus, we are asking you to join hands with the other stewards of the community and to do the following two things: • Please check your pledged stewardship amount that you made at the beginning of the 2024 calendar year; and make sure you are on track to fulfill that pledged amount. Thank you! • As we approach the end of the 2024 year (in November) we will kick off our 2025 stewardship drive. Thus, we ask you to think and pray about your level of commit- ment and / or the increase you can offer to your beloved parish for 2025 in our con- certed effort to meet our parish’s goal – to cover our operating expenses / budget us- ing stewardship dollars only . Once again, the Stewardship Committee thanks you for your honorable stewardship giving. We respectfully ask that you please continue to be attentive to your Orthodox Christian call to offer your first fruits unto Christ’s Body, which is the Church (Col. 1:24). God’s continued blessings to you and your family, The Stewardship Committee John Kalas Stewardship Chairperson This past month we celebrated the Feast of the Exaltation of the Venerable and Life-Giv- ing Cross. As we know, the Emperor Con- stantine converted to Christianity when he saw a cross in the sky with the words “en touto nika” [ Ἐν τούτῳ νίκα] (“In this sign, you will be victorious”). We were also reminded of St. Helen’s journey to find the cross upon which Christ was crucified. She ultimately found the Cross buried on a hill beneath a basil plant. Like the ba- sil branches which can be cut, put in water, and come back to life; we too can be renewed in our faith by the Cross. While the cross is a sym- bol of our faith, we are of- ten timid to express it. As Father Andrew likes to remind us to “Do Your Stavro!” As St. Paul wrote “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). The Cross reminds us of His sacrifice for us and can give us the strength to do His work. In a recent sermon, Father reminded us that our faith requires us to take up our cross. Like Peter, we can bid Him to call us and, if we truly listen, we will hear Him. But ultimate- ly, we must take a leap of faith. We have to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Our challenge, like Peter’s, is to avoid losing faith in Him while being distracted by the noise in the world around us. But when we feel ourselves sinking, like Peter, all we need to do is reach out to Him. In the moment when we feel Him pulling us out of the water, we can ask our- selves “Why did I doubt?” The Cross also reminds us that our earthly life is fi- nite. While we don’t know when we will pass, there is no time like today for us to take up our cross and focus on the work He has given us to do. As we are reminding our youth, we are all part of the Body of Christ. As part of the Body, we each have unique gifts He has given us to share with others. As we pick up our cross and work together, let us also remember His last words - “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” As He forgave us, we too can forgive one another. Many Blessings, Jim Gilpin Parish Council President FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANew Season forWomen of theWord “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” This opening phrase from Ecclesiastes 3 re- minds us that there is constant movement in the times of our outward and inward lives. Often the seasons, and time itself, move and change more slowly or rapidly than we could wish. Amid this, there is a constant: the love and will of our Triune God, Who in His mer- cy calls us to look constantly for the time- less union He offers us through prayer, His Word, and the sacraments. This Ecclesiastical New Year brings a change in format to our Women of the Word Bible study, as we have committed to continue our weekly in-person meetings together in spite of the necessary absence of our beloved Su- san Miserlis, on whom we have relied these many years for her diligent guidance of our study and fellowship. This autumn we will meet at Noon on Wednesdays in the lower education build- ing classroom for about one hour to devote our attention in simple prayerful attention to the Epistle and Gospel passages of the day, reading them together, and then discussing what comes to our hearts after taking a few moments of silence reflecting upon them. As always, we will begin our time with the beautiful “Prayer Before Reading Scripture,” which we hear at each Divine Liturgy before the readings of the day: “Shine within our hearts, loving Master, the pure light of Your divine knowledge and open the eyes of our minds that we may comprehend the message of Your Gospel. Instill in us also reverence for Your blessed commandments, so that having conquered all sinful desires, we may pursue a spiritual life, thinking and doing all those things that are pleasing to You. For You, Christ our God, are the light of our souls and bodies, and to You we give glory together with Your Father who is without beginning and Your all holy, good, and life giving Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen”. In this simple way, we pray that we will hon- or our history of gathering in faith asking the Holy Spirit to guide us in our faithfulness to His Word in order that we may share our joys, sorrows, and strength with one anoth- er and create an oasis in the ever-changing fabric of our days and weeks. All women are welcome to join us as their time permits. If you would like to be on our mailing list, please contact us at kayharkins@mac.com. Kay Harkins, Interim Ministry Leader The Cross also reminds us that our earthly life is finite. While we don’t know when we will pass, there is no time like today for us to take up our cross and focus on the work He has given us to do. WOMEN WORD OF THE STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE