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1 THE SHEPHERD • NOVEMBER 2020 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO The Shepherd I S S U E 2 9 4 • NO V E MB E R 2 0 2 0 The official newsletter publication for the parish of Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church of San Diego FROM THE DESK OF FATHER ANDREW www.theshepherdnews.com The Shepherd Newsletter IN THIS ISSUE FR. ANDREW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 1 PRESIDENT OF THE PARISH COUNCIL, WOMEN OF THE WORD, TREASURER UPDATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 2 NEWS FROM THE LOFT, DIVINE SERVICES, SACRAMENTS, MEMORIALS, DEATHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 3 GREEK LANGUAGE SCHOOL, SUNDAY SCHOOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 4 G.O.Y.A. NEWS, A.H.E.P.A. . . . . . . . . . . p. 5 PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS, STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE, VETARANS DAY . . . . . . . p. 6 A TASTE OF GREEK CHRISTMAS . . . . p. 7 PARISH CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 10 PC NOMINATION APPLICATION . . . . p. 11 CONTACT INFORMATION. . . . . . . . . . . p. 12 My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, erefore by Him let us continually o er the sacri- ce of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giv- ing thanks to His name (Hebrews 13:15) . As the summer months come to a close and we welcome fall and winter – it for sure has been an interesting and trying eight months, trying to navigate through this historical and unique pandemic. I am sure it has challenged us all both spiritually and intellectually. With so much information about the coronavi- rus available to us it has been challenging at times to decipher and discern fact from c- tion. From the beginning we as a parish lead- ership have listened to the federal, state and local (San Diego county) o cials in their assessment of how to live alongside the coro- navirus, and, frommy point of view, I believe our parish leadership has done a very good job discerning what approach we as a parish will follow with regard to parish events, ac- tivities, celebration of the divine services, etc. From the beginning in March 2020, when not too much was known about how con- tagious the virus really was, we have always approached it with an abundance of caution; and now, when much more is known, our approach has not changed much because the nature of the virus has not changed. We know that for the time being, to lessen the spread of the virus the use of face coverings is still necessary, six feet of distance is still important and keeping our hands clean and away from our faces is still a very good prac- tice in our attempt to keep the virus at bay. us, instead of “fearing” the virus we are trying to live along side of it. Our reason informs us that the virus is still active and potentially dangerous but our faith reminds us that God is Great! at does not mean however, we just move forward blindly like it does not exist and that God will protect us. God has protected us by giving us the knowl- edge and tools that we need to crush the vi- rus. us, as fall and winter approach and the weather changes a bit and we move more and more “inside” let us not become com- fortable and complacent letting our guard down. What has changed? Not much – the virus is still looking for an opportunity to in- fect and we are still trying our best to defend ourselves through the things recommended by the credible scienti c and medical com- munities and through both personal and communal prayer, which for the time being we are able to practice in our Sanctuary. As we navigate and potentially move around, let us move with both our intellect and Christian faith. Jesus Christ never placed the ones He loves in the way of harm and neither have we always trying to balance faith and reason with regard to “gathering” whatever that has looked like here at Saint Spyridon on Park Blvd. Overall, we have “protected the ock” to the best of our ability and as far as the governing authorities have allowed, both inside our parish as fellow “sojourners” and outside the parish as well as good neighbors and fellow citizens. So, in the coming months let us continue to pray for God’s earthly protection and sound spiritual guidance as we continue to navigate alongside of the coronavirus. Please know that the leadership of your faith commu- nity continues to meet, discuss and debate, pray, re ect and react with sound judgement and faith to minimize the risk of infection when we are called on to do so. We are try- ing to provide a safe, healthy and hopeful- ly a rewarding environment in which to “gather” for communal prayer and worship. continues 3