Dear Friends,

I take this opportunity to extend my best wishes to all on the occasion of Thanksgiving! In just a few days throughout our country families and friends will be gathering to celebrate all the many blessings which our heavenly Father has bestowed upon us. Following the example of the early settlers, the Pilgrims, we will share a meal together unlike any other, for the theme will be the offering of thanks and expressing of gratitude to God.

More and more the secular view wants to remove God from the public place, from the media and indeed from any public expression. Soon we will be entering the season of Advent in preparation for Christmas and we will see how recognition of the divine one is downplayed during this very sacred time of the year.

Thanksgiving is meaningless without recognizing and allowing God to be part of the celebration. For the Pilgrims, they owed their safety and indeed their very existence to God’s presence in their lives. Their feast was not about congratulating each other for all their successes nor was it about thanking the Native Americans for their hospitality. Rather it was a humble recognition of their dependence upon God and a petition that He continue to bless them.

Likewise, we are called to make God the center of our celebrations: whether Thanksgiving or Christmas. As a practical approach, I ask you to refrain from saying, “Happy Holidays” or “Holiday Tree.” We will be about celebrating the “Christmas Season” and setting up of “Christmas trees,” because we will be rejoicing in the good news of the birth of the Savior.

Finally, during this season I encourage parishioners to have their homes blessed. This is an excellent opportunity to help make the Christian faith alive in your homes. During today’s Thanksgiving meal we will be conducting the “Blessing of Home” service. If you haven’t had your home blessed, please speak to me. The Home Blessing is an especially meaningful tradition which exposes your children to this most venerable Armenian Church tradion.

+ + + + +

With prayers.
Hayr Simeon
November 18, 2007