It is with a joyous heart that I greet you on the eve of the New Year. The New Year grants us new life as we celebrate the Birth of Christ our Lord, who is the way towards God, towards spiritual reawakening and towards everlasting truth.
Our Godgiven life has the ultimate goal to fill our lives with prayers. The destiny of humanity is God. However, often we fail in our commitment to make God the destiny of our spiritual journey. The Almighty God then intercedes into the life of humanity through the Birth of Christ our Lord, thus granting us spiritual rebirth to lead a holy life, worshiping God and enriching our Godgiven lives with faith and good deeds.
The Birth of our Lord is the source of spiritual strength which helps us to renew our life and to also rebuild within us the image of the Almighty God. On the eve of the New Year and Blessed Christmas, we uplift our hearts with thanksgiving prayers for enriching our lives with the gift of faith and the vision of peace.
The year 2007 will be very significant for the Western Diocese as we prepare ourselves for the 80th Anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Western Diocese as a separate Diocese. The 80th Anniversary represents a challenge of a new doorway to tranform the Western Diocese into a stronger institution with new Clergy and Pastors, with new Parishes, with new Missions. Through meeting these challenges the Motherland Armenia and the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin become the living message for the new generations.
The 80th Anniversary inspires us all as the members of the Armenian Community to foresee our role as distinct citizens of the United States of America where we live under the eyes of the Almighty God.
My dear faithful, renew your life with the blessed Birth of Christ our Lord. May the Birth of Christ our Lord enlighten your spirituality so that through the Birth of Christ you may be able to live your spiritual rebirth and dedicate your life in service of God.
Christ is born and revealed. Blessed is the revelation of Christ our Lord.
With Prayers and Blessings,
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian
Primate
http://www.armenianchurchwd.com/archbishop/messages/2006/christmas.html