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2 THE SHEPHERD • DECEMBER 2023 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO This past Sunday was the annual Thanksgiv- ing Day Luncheon hosted by our Philopto- chos ladies. It is always a special day, but this year was especially touching for me. I kept thinking of a line from one of my favorite movies where the character opens the door and sees a special person he wasn’t expecting to see. He tells her “when I opened this door l was so happy to see you that my heart leapt. It leapt in my chest.” Believe me when I say “my heart leapt to see so many of you!” In church, Deacon Michael spoke to us about the parable of the Good Samaritan. Every time I hear it, I hear something new; I think about my actions and how I have respond- ed to others. This year, I heard the word of the lawyer putting Jesus to the test. In the exchange it is Jesus who has the lawyer an- swer his own question. The lawyer asks Jesus “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus responds to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” And the lawyer answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And Jesus responds to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.” My take away is that we know the law, but try to interpret it to our liking. We struggle to do the simple and hardest thing - to love our neighbor as ourselves. We try to classify, as the lawyer did, who is our neighbor. As the parable reminds us, everyone is our neighbor and we can only prove to be a good neighbor by showing mercy to everyone we meet. As Deacon Michael reminded us, the true test happens when we leave our comfortable sur- roundings, when we meet a person we view as strange or a person with different beliefs or an enemy. We are reminded over and over that we need to see God in a stranger, even those who don’t look like us or talk like us or share our beliefs or World views. We interact with “strangers” all the time; on the road, in the store, and in Church. In these moments, there are given innumerable opportunities to greet them, to hear them, to see them, to feel them, and to show them grace. I will leave you with another of my favor- ites. On Sunday mornings before Church, I watch a segment called “A Life Well Lived” which reflects on the life of a person who has passed. The person has left an indelible mark on our world. At a recent funeral for one of our own, I was struck by a passage in his eulogy which said “I was given a full life. I experienced sorrow, joy and love.” What a statement at the end of a life well lived. Jim also left us with images of his “Mastorakos smile!” May we continue to share that smile with one another and the strangers we meet Many Blessings, Jim Gilpin Parish Council President FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL PRESIDENT Many of the Epistles over the past few months have been about instruction in be- coming more mature in the faith and the synergy so essential to this work of living and doing the Word of God. St. Paul warns us of- ten that synergy, doing our work in coopera- tion with God is essential, otherwise we may be working in vain. A footnote in our Or- thodox Study Bible helps us understand this better in Phil. 2:12-13 where it says, “because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are to take hold of what God offers, accepting His grace and working towards becoming mature in Christ. Note the cooperation: we work out our own salvation while it is God who works in us to do His will.” (p.1613) Then again in Heb.8:1-6, St. Paul shows us a new and deeper way that we work together with God where he talks about Christ as a “Mediator of a better covenant” – referring to the difference between the Old and New cov- enants. Once more, a footnote in the Ortho- dox Study Bible spells out a fuller meaning of this: “Christ’s covenant solves the problems that Moses’ could not.” And explains that “the root of man’s problems are not external but in- ternal struggle with sin and death”, and that Christ has come “to heal our nature and unify our inner man – heart and mind are joined in union with God; grasped intuitively; heeded with willing cooperation (synergy).” (p.1662) All of these references in the epistles to syn- ergy and working with God remind us that in our growth as Orthodox Christians, in the maturing of our faith, we are not alone, that God is always with us, as long as we open ourselves to Him, invite Him in and recog- nize His Presence. For, He promises us that He loves us, and will help us to learn how to work according to His Will which is the real Life, true Love, and everlasting Peace. + May everyone have a most blessed Holy Na- tivity and Theophany. For more information and the most recent updates on our group, you can contact (call or text) Susan Miserlis at 619-243-9864 or email susanmiserlis@gmail.com With Love in Christ, +The Women of the Word Bible Study Group WOMEN WORD OF THE During this “Season of Giving”, Memori- al donation gifts have been received by the Bookstore in Memory of James (Jim) Mas- torakos from Christiann Arapostathis Si- atras, Eileen Black, Stan & Brenda Canaris, Spiro & Nancy Chaconas, Alex & Christine Cremidan, Bill & Marion Demos, Pete & Connie Fellios, John & Nicole Galaxidas, Patty Gianulis, Kathy & Dennis Hardy, Don- na Niemeier, the Samarkos Family, Sally Sta- matopoulos, and Jeanette Stavros. We would like to give a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of our donors for their most generous Memori- al donations. The Church gifts to us the blessed Nativity season. During this season we have entered a rich time in our lives as Orthodox Chris- tians. Advent brings to us a reminder of “spiritual renewal”, a time to grow in our Or- thodox faith and to share it with others. Why not share an Orthodox Christian gift to give this Christmas season? Please take a peek and browse our Christ- mas book display table inside the bookstore. We have a wonderful selection of Christmas books for children of all ages. Additionally, we will be selling an assortment of beauti- ful Orthodox ornaments from the Ukraine, along with Nativity icon ornaments for your Christmas tree. We also have lots of stocking stuffer items. We thank each of you for supporting our St Spyridon Bookstore. We wish all of our pa- rishioners and friends a blessed Christmas season, and a healthy New Year! Christ is Born! Glorify Him! Stephanie Mourafetis, Mary Mastorakos, Pat Tsopanoglou, Collette Pepelis, and Fran- cesca Captain BOOKSTORE