Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In addition to (probably) making a few New Year resolutions, we have entered yet another new year with gratitude for blessings received and with the sincere hope and prayer that this year will be filled with health, happiness, and many more blessings for our parish, families, and loved ones.
In my message for last year’s January newsletter, I wrote: “It is my prayerful hope that at the end of 2007 all of us will have grown closer to Christ and to one another—in anticipation of the day when we will be joined together in the presence of Christ in his heavenly kingdom.”  I am grateful to know that this hope was fulfilled in many ways during the year gone by. Our parish community has grown, both numerically and in its commitment to living and proclaiming the fullness of the Gospel. As we enter this new calendar year, we pray that our parish will continue to grow in unity and the shared vision of our work for the Kingdom of Heaven.
As we begin this New Year, it is appropriate for us to reflect upon the past year and ask ourselves some important questions about the year that now lies ahead of us: What kind of life are we going to live between now and the end of 2008?  Will it be a life pleasing to God?  Will we grow in faith and love?  Will we experience and share the joy that comes from living a life faithful to Jesus Christ and His Church? How shall we relate to the world around it

with all its temptations? How much will we be willing to sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel?  For the Church?  For our families?  For the society in which we live?  The Lord has blessed us to see the beginning of another year so that we may continue to work out our salvation. Will we use the 365 days of 2008 as a blessed opportunity to live our faith with dedication, sincerity, and prayer, especially when the Church calls us to pray? Will we attend the Divine Services with regularity and thus receive the blessings of our Orthodox divine services?  Will the end of the year find us closer to the Lord, more holy, more committed to the task entrusted to us—the task of announcing the Gospel to the world around us?  I have great hopes for the year ahead—hopes which assure me that all the members of our parish community will answer “yes” to these questions.  
As we enter the New Year, may the Most Holy Theotokos, whose “yes” to the Lord God at the moment of the Annunciation brought God’s Son into the world, continue to intercede for us.  May she cover us with her protecting veil and teach us to respond to the Lord as she did, always saying “yes” to the Lord and His Divine Will.
Be assured of my continued gratitude for your loving dedication to the life, growth, and health of our parish community.  May the Lord grant you and your loved ones a peaceful, healthy, and blessed year.

With love in Christ,

Father David