ROSS May 2004 C Monthly Newsletter CURRENTS NON-PROFIT ORGAN. U.S. POSTAGE P A I D PERMIT No. 17 BELMONT, CA 94002 900 Alameda BELMONT CA 94002-1604 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED TIME V ALUE One may easily wonder why so much of what we consider im- Cross Currents portant and precious in our world is so distorted and confused; why The Monthly Newsletter of the Church of the Holy Cross does the reality of temptation and the fruit of sin seem to gain so great 900 Alameda / Belmont, CA 94002-1604 a prominence? Our Lord confronted head on these questions posed by (650) 591-4447 / fax (650) 508-9846 such a world, and He did so not with violence and destruction but with [email protected] / http://www.goholycross.org the true love which emanates only from Truth. I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E Recently Massachusetts became the first state in the union to legalize gay marriage. As abhorrent as this may seem to many of us, Church Matters .................. 8 Stewardship ............................ 10 there is support from many sectors of society that condone and even Festival 2004 ................... 12 Golf & Tennis Tournament ...... 12 encourage this kind of distortion and sin. From advertisements in maga- Youth Currents ................. 14 Greek Light ............................ 22 zines and newspapers to teachers in our children’s classrooms, Satan’s Philop. Fashion Show. .center Church Calendar . center deception continues to blind many to the distance we are placing be- tween God and ourselves. As a parent, you have the greatest influence upon your chil- Articles and ads for Cross Currents are due on the 26th of the month prior to the month of desired publication. dren. Remember that your relationship with your child, despite the con- flicts that will come daily, is what will lift your child, when challenged, from confusion to clear thinking. Saint Theophan the Recluse states that the education of our OF COURSE THERE’S GOD! children is the most sacred of tasks. The most important element in this by Father Peter Salmas, Pastor educational process is the home and the instruction and guidance our children receive from parents, from their mother and father. It is this During a recently overheard conversation regarding the existence of relationship of mother and father that God has ordained and sanctified. God, a young member of our Holy Cross family reaffirmed the reality Gay marriage is man’s attempt to be like God; it is the result of of the element of faith. Gerasimos, from the back seat of the car where foolishly thinking that we, the creation, are in charge and can do it his parents were in conversation with another adult, simply said, “Of alone. We commit the sin of Adam and Eve once again when we think course there’s God.” From the mouth of babes do come words of wis- that God and His instruction to us can be put aside and replaced with dom. our own thought and vision. Every time we ignore God’s guidance and From this point of innocent but knowing faith, how do so many instruction, greater evils will be the result. Unfortunately, the more we of our children grow to become witness not to the glory of their Cre- move away from God and His plan for us, the more distorted and tragic ator but to the distortions that plague our world? When confronted by our world becomes. these distortions that do plague our lives, we must find comfort in know- Saint John the Baptist said it best : “Repent, for the Kingdom ing that the most basic and precious gifts that we wish to pass on to our of Heaven is at hand.” Let us hear and heed these words and continue children can be planted, nurtured, and grown even as seeds which, when to responsibly prepare our children for the coming of the Lord. Their carefully planted and nurtured in soil, will blossom into beautiful and innocence, protected and hence preserved, can provide the wisdom by majestic trees. which we should live our lives. page 2 - Cross Currents STEWARDSHIP - GIVING OF YOURSELF nor but do it now at your local blood bank; take the time to mark your driver’s license to indicate willingness to donate whatever can be used by Tanya W. Spirtos, M.D., Stewardship Chair & Parish Council at your death. And be absolutely sure to notify family members so that they will honor your wishes and not “waste” these precious life-sus- During the past year, the articles I have submitted have dealt with dif- taining gifts. ferent aspects of Orthodox Christian Stewardship pertaining to the giv- When I have written of stewardship funds, I focus on the giv- ing of time and of talent and of treasure. This time I will address what ing as our obligation and not on the utility bills and administrative I consider to be a very important, less often addressed, issue which costs facing our Church today. In the same way, I do not address the particularly interests me as a physician. “giving of yourself” in the context of “what if this were your son?”, On Saturday May 1st, while my daughter Alex was playing bas- implying a reciprocal arrangement in your life or in your future. In- ketball in the Church league at Holy Trinity on Brotherhood Way, I stead, I make the case that it is your responsibility to do whatever you loitered in the gym hallway reading the various postings on their bulle- possibly can, to save the life of a fellow human being. Ignoring the tin board. Surrounded by newspaper clippings, quotations of the Holy plea to donate, whether when alive or after death, shows an ignorance Fathers, and announcements, there was a notice of a bone marrow drive. of the true meaning of stewardship. When the Lord says to you “where Below a photograph of young, smiling Simon Alfred Siniora was a were you when I needed an eye?” can you really answer “if I had only letter in his own words describing his fight against Burkitt’s Lymphoma known it was you, Lord!”? and a request for bone marrow donors at two scheduled drives in San As for Simon, may your memory be eternal, dear brother, wor- Francisco. thy to be deemed happy and ever to be remembered. Less than twelve hours later, I opened the San Francisco Chronicle to find an obituary notice that Simon died on April 30th at the age of 39, leaving behind his wife Zola, and his children Jaclyn, STEWARDSHIP COMMITTEE: REMINDER Alfred, Tarik and Daniella. His memorial service will be held today at St. Thomas More Church and burial at Greek Orthodox Memorial Park. Although we are well into 2004, there are families who still have not The bone marrow drive yielded five matches but it was too late sent in their Stewardship pledge cards. Please send in your pledge be- for Simon: by that time his body was too weakened to fight any longer. fore the next Parish Directory comes out! For the rest of us there is a valuable lesson to be learned: there exist among us individuals (whether related or total strangers) who match in Festival 2004 HLA-antigens and can thus donate life-saving marrow (or in other cases, by Bob Nemchik, Festival Chair a desperately sought kidney or other transplant organ). Our bodies are a loan to us for our time on earth, and we have a Here it is the start of a new Festival season. I would like to take this responsibility to care for them and use them as we strive to be God- opportunity to thank all of you who worked on Festival 2003. I have like. When our Lord gave his blood for us, did he not expect us to also tried to thank you all personally but if I inadvertently missed anyone, I give whatever we could to save each other? Your blood and your bone apologize and will do my best to get around to everyone this year. marrow while you are alive, and your corneas and kidneys and heart If anyone has any ideas or suggestions on how to make our after your death, may be a second chance for someone like Simon. Festival the best, not that it already isn’t (I always feel there is room for Don’t wait for the next personal plea to register as a bone marrow do- improvement), I invite you to meet with or call me. I also want to know Please contact Helen Valavanis 573-5315 or Viki Demakas your concerns about the Festival as well. 592-3799 to be part of this fund-raising effort. This year is going to be an exciting one, we have brand spank- ing new Food Booths, which I am sure will be a big improvement over Las Vegas Youth Music Conference the wooden booths we retired last year. For one thing - and this is major - the framework is made of steel and the only thing we will need Start spreading the news . Young people who love to sing and have to set them up and take them down is a ladder and gloves. Those of us fun should come to the San Francisco Metropolis Church Music Con- who do set up and take down every year will appreciate that the time it ference, Thursday, June 17 - Sunday, June 20, at the awesome New will take to do both will be drastically reduced. The Calamari and Gy- York - New York Hotel in fabulous Las Vegas.