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1 THE SHEPHERD • DECEMBER 2025 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO continues 11 www.theshepherdnews.com The Shepherd Newsletter The official newsletter publication for the parish of Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church of San Diego I S S U E 3 5 5 • D E C E MB E R 2 0 2 5 IN THIS ISSUE FROM THE DESK OF FR. ANDREW ...... p. 1 PRESIDENT OF THE PARISH COUNCIL, WOMEN OF THE WORD, ACOLYTES .... p. 2 DIVINE SERVICES, HOLY SACRAMENTS, MEMORIALS, CHOIR ............................... p. 3 YOUTH MINISTRIES ................................. p. 4 GREEK LANGUAGE SCHOOL, DANCE & CHORAL .................................. p. 6 PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS .......................... p. 7 STEWARDSHIP, BOOKSTORE ................ p. 8 PARISH CALENDAR ................................ p. 10 YOUNG AT HEART SENIORS ................. p. 11 CONTACT INFORMATION....................... p. 12 FROM THE DESK OF FATHER ANDREW My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Christmas Season is upon us and the cel- ebration of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is at hand. What an awesome mystery that we recog- nize, God becomes Incarnate, takes on flesh and dwells among His people; His creation (John 1:14). He does so because He truly loves us. From Holy Scripture (John 15:12; II Cor. 13:11; I John 4:8) we are told that God is love and He “proves” that love by sending His Only Begotten Son to be born of the Holy Spirit from the womb of the holy Theotokos in the simplicity of a manger: For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that, whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). From the first chapter of Matthew, verse eighteen, we read: Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way… The Biblical Greek word for birth is γέννησις or genesis which translates to “beginning.” The first book of the Old Testament is called Genesis, or Η Γέννησις: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… With this very important passage, we recognize and under- stand that God created and gave a beginning to His creation. With the Fall of Adam , God’s beginning was corrupted and Adam’s reign in Paradise came to an end. Thus, with the birth of Jesus Christ, creation (humanity) is offered the opportunity to begin anew. God knew, and it became apparent that man could not save himself and so at the appro- priate time He sent His Son to bridge the gap between the created and the Creator; be- tween man and God. No other man, no other philosopher, no oth- er person, no other human being had or has the power and authority to save us. No one throughout all of history could offer eter- nal life except He who was born of a Virgin through the Holy Spirit. He who is not only called Christ but He who is also called Em- manuel , which means God with us; who is at the same time both human and Divine, alone can offer eternal life. It is He who was born in a cave and grants unto us a new beginning . Our Incarnate and Great God could have ap- peared without human cooperation but then it would seem like He has forced Himself upon us and circumvented our free will. In- stead, like the Virgin Mary, He asks and waits for our cooperation freely given. Again, from the Old Testament book of Genesis, we read that God created man in His image and like- ness . To be made in God’s image and likeness is to have the ability to love as God loves, and to be free like God is free. God gave the Virgin the freedom to say no way to the an- gel’s message, but instead she chose to say: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be according to Your word. Thus, out of love and wisdom, the Virgin Mary exercised her free will and accepted the challenge to bring forth from her womb the Savior of the world. My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, may we, too, exercise our free will to do the many things Christ has asked us and called us to do. He asks us to love one another; to care for each other; to feed the poor and clothe the naked; to be compassionate and merci- ful as our Heavenly Father is compassionate and merciful; to be humble, kind and gener- ous, to forgive as God forgives. Thus, as am I reminded during this Christmas season I encourage you to seize the opportunity and to use the Nativity season as it was intended, to mark a new beginning in our lives and to follow the example of Christ; and to love, to care for, to be merciful and compassionate,