Dear All,

All new beginnings are good and beautiful, because renewal is the hallmark of all beginnings. The potential for change and transformation is inbuilt in any beginning. That is why the New Year is the harbinger of happiness and hope. Let us begin 2012 with a true sense of happiness and hope.

The source of all our hope is God, because God is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Not only the entire Creation, but time itself is in the hands of God. That awareness is the basis of our hope for the future and the source of all our wisdom. In a sense, all human beginnings are based on human calculations and comprehension of the universe. God’s timings are unfathomable to mortal humanity.

So utterly depending on God, let us move into 2012, the future, the unknown. God will, in His time, unravel the future for each one of us and our families. I wish you all blessings and happiness. There may be pain, there may be uncertainty, but let us walk into it with the assurance that God is with us.

Let there be new beginnings in our lives, knowing well that God calls us to transform and change wherever necessary. Let there be firm resolve to hold on to certain things whatever might happen.

The motto chosen for this coming year is – “Therefore be imitators of God, And live in love, as Christ loved us.” [Ephesians 5; 1-2]

Here is an invitation for us to be imitators of God in Christ in everything that we do in our life. This is a tall order indeed. But according to St. Paul it is possible if we realise the basis on which we do it. Firstly, Christ, ‘who is with us’ - Immanuel, is our model to imitate. Therefore, we are called to grow up to the stature of Christ. Secondly, we need to live in love. That in itself is an ultimate form of imitating Christ. Thirdly, the question arises, why should we love? The reason is that Christ loved us. Cross is the cross road between God and human beings, and in that sense, the cross road in human relationships too.

May God bring a happy and blessed New Year.

Yours in Christ,

George Oommenachen
December 30th 2011