November 15, 1999
Protocol Number 139/99
Thanksgiving Day 1999
O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures
forever (Psalm 136: 1)
To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend Priests and Deacons,
the Monks and Nuns, the Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils
of the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Day and Afternoon Schools,
the Philoptochos Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic Organizations,
and the entire Greek Orthodox Family in America
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
One of the finest American customs is the annual observance of Thanksgiving
Day. There is something special about this day which we set aside
for expressions of gratitude in our family gatherings. For the holiday
of Thanksgiving is more than a gracious acknowledgement of God’s
bounties at the close of the harvest: it is also a demonstration of
our faith and hope for the future, even in the face of the winter
months ahead. This national readiness to thank the Lord for His abundant
blessings, to see His hand at work even in difficult circumstances,
and to look towards tomorrow without cynicism or despair is an element
of the American heritage that is in profound accord with the traditions
of Orthodox spirituality. As Greek-Americans who are Orthodox Christians,
therefore, we find a double joy in the observance of this day.
Many families have a Thanksgiving tradition of giving every person
at the table an opportunity to express a reason for gratitude in the
year that has passed. How fitting it would be for our family in Christ—the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America—to follow this tradition!
As a Church, as brothers and sisters in the Faith, and as fellow communicants
at the table of the Lord, we surely have found many causes for thanksgiving
to God in the past year.
Yet on this Thanksgiving Day 1999, we have a special obligation to
voice our gratitude. Our generation stands, according to the common
reckoning, on the threshold of the third millennium since the birth
of Christ. Poised as we are at this unique vantage point in the history
of humankind, it behooves us to look back with thanksgiving, not only
on the previous year, but also on the century and the millennium that
now come to a close.
If we cast our gaze over the last one thousand years, one outstanding
feature meets our eye: the inexorable spread of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ throughout the entire world, passing beyond the borders of
the ancient Roman Empire into more distant lands and even into parts
unknown to the earliest generations of Christians. When the Apostle
Paul spoke of the Gospel bearing fruit in all the world (Col. 1:6),
he meant the Mediterranean world of the Pax Romana. Yet in our times
we can truly see the Word of Life bringing forth fruit on every inhabited
continent on the globe, such that men and women of every tribe and
nation and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father. In this last millennium, every event in the life
of the Church—even the most tragic—has served ultimately
to advance the proclamation of the Gospel and the progress of the
human family. Times of oppression and persecution have paradoxically
worked for the dissemination of the Good News, just as in the earliest
days of the Church (cf. Acts 8:1, 4).
Moreover, we as Greek-Americans have received a special measure of
grace in recent times. Though our community began humbly as a collection
of poor immigrant families, we now at the end of the twentieth century
have become one of the most prosperous and highly educated ethnic
groups in the country. This is undoubtedly a blessing of God. But
above all, as Orthodox Christians, we have preserved the unity of
the faith until now, despite serious threats of schism on various
occasions in the past two centuries. This unbroken unity with one
another and with our Mother Church is surely the most precious gift
of all that the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon us, and we as a community
of faith are bound to express our gratitude for this inestimable blessing.
The Psalmist tells us, “Great are the works of the LORD, studied
by all who have pleasure in them” (Psalm 111:2). As we study
the previous thousand years of our life as a Church, we see without
hesitation or doubt that it has been a millennium of the richest heavenly
blessings. Strengthened in soul by these thoughts, with hearts of
thanksgiving and praise, let us magnify the name of God, Who has given
His only begotten Son to us and to the whole world, along with every
blessing of this life and of the life to come.
May the Lord grant to all of you a truly Happy Thanksgiving and a
blessed closing to this year and this millennium of grace.
With paternal love in Christ,
DEMETRIOS
Archbishop of America
