Key verse:"This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Honav Yaumo Dabaad Moreo, Thaav N'doos Neh De Bae), Ps 118:24. [Psalm 4:4]

Every religion, race and nation has its own calendar and festive days. Church calendar for the Orthodox Church begins with Kudos Eetho which falls either on the last Sunday of October or on the first Sunday of November. Regardless of religion, race or nation the first day of the year is always a day of great celebration. In Hebrew tradition New Year Day is known as "Yom Kippur." This is the Day of Atonement, Forgiveness and Dedication for them. Apostolic fathers following this tradition admonished us celebrate it, unlike the secular way, in a pious manner by cleansing our self from all worldly defilements, forgiving brethren and seeking forgiveness from God.

January 1 has threefold significance:

1. On January first we have "Feast of Circumcision of our Lord,"

2. Memory of Capadocian fathers, Mor Basil the Great, Mor Gregory of Nyssa and Mor Gregory of Nazianz. Thus this day is the most solemn festive day for us

3. The first day of the English calendar year.

Since English has become a world language January 1 is the day of joyful celebration throughout the world in the secular sense which is wine, dine and merriments, but the Church has a different message for the day. A rampant wrong notion among the faithful need be cleared. We conduct Holy Eucharist on this day, not because of secular New Year Day, but because of the first two reasons listed above. Needless to say, we ought to observe it piously.

People in cities around the globe gather in restaurants and public places such as New York Time Square; wait until midnight on the New Year eve spend money and time with friends, indulge in drunken revelry, profane and lewd entertainments. They ceremoniously switch off the light at the stroke of midnight and switch on at start of 12.01 AM; "Apple-fall" in the case of Time square, shouts of joy, fire-crackers, and media coverage, etc follows heralding that old year ended and New Year began. Most people at this stage are in an ecstatic mood because of heavy drinking. They jubilantly sing, dance and shout, "Happy New Year," shake hands with those around and unable to self-contain gleefully run amok. Some others assemble in homes with family and friends, watch TV, play cards, cut jokes, eat and drink liquor and wait for the "apple-fall" and then do the same things as the crowd in the cities. Global Television network has converted the whole world into a global village. The news-media, except intermittent commercial breaks, goes on with breathtaking announcements and showing the time change and mood of celebration in various cities around the world to keep the tantalizing viewers anxious. This is the New Year celebration of a typical citizen. This sort of madness gathers momentum year after year because of the myth created by business tycoons and media that date begins at 12.01 midnights.

Universal application of Gregorian (English) calendar in all the areas of human activity made many oblivious that the Orthodox Christians follow the biblical tradition, at least for religious purpose, accordingly, date begins at 6.01 PM; therefore has no relevance to wait until midnight to see the man-made-apple-fall and that their obligation is to pray in the evening with sober mind, not under liquor influence, thanking and glorifying God for His boundless mercies and blessings during the day and for giving comfortable sleep at night, which is a gift from God, Ps 127:2. New Year Day for us, then, is an occasion to glorify God; thank God and rededicate our lives to God. Having said that let me go over to Gospel reading for the day, John 15:5-19.

The subject is the intimate union with Christ. Jesus allegorically explains the inseparable union with Him. "I am the vine and you are the branches. He who abides in me bears much fruits, without me, you can do nothing," v5. Vine is symbol of Israel, Ps 80:8-15, Is 5:1, Jer 2:21, Hos10:1. Vine was the most familiar plant in Israel, which required constant care. God cared and protected Israel as a nation. But Israel, as the prophets lament, deteriorated into idolatry and sinful passions. By saying that "I am the true vine" Jesus was claiming that he was the Son of God and his aim was to restore the lost spiritual vigor of Israel. Vine plant absorbs nutrients from the soil and distributes it to the branches from which springs forth fruits. Same way the disciples survive and bear fruits only if they abide in Christ. Surely one has to first believe and then accept Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior so that he/she could abide in Christ. Jesus was speaking to the disciples who had already believed. Believing and accepting is not an end in itself but that just qualifies one to abide in Christ. Baptism and anointment of Holy Muron have put us in the path of salvation. Not that the salvation is completed or finished but that we are on the way of salvation, so to enable us by constant prayer, fasting, partaking the Holy Eucharist, keeping union with all the righteous ones before us, persisting in righteous conduct and fleeing away from immoral conducts steadily progress toward final destination which will be fully and perfectly manifested at the glorious Second Coming before the Judgment Seat. According to John's account Jesus said this immediately following the institution of Holy Eucharist by which Jesus was teaching them that regular partaking of Holy Eucharist is the source of contact. As the stem supplies sap for the sustenance of the branches, the Holy body and Blood of Christ nurtures the soul. Only a steadily nurtured and growing soul can produce fruits. Discipleship is all about bearing fruits of the Spirit which are; "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, Gal 5:22; also "righteousness, truth and finding what is acceptable to God," Eph 5:9. When the branch is cut off it disrupts the flow of sap into the branches which causes demise of the branches. Similarly, disruption in the intake of the holy elements and absence of prayer sever the union with Christ, which disrupts the flow of grace, eventually results in the spiritual death exposing to all sorts of temptations and wild passions.

Periodical pruning or cutting down useless branches was an essential procedure the farmers performed for better yield and to prevent wild growth. It stands for discipline. Sufferings, temptations, disappointments and sorrows are part of spiritual discipline to attain spiritual perfection. Pruning causes severance from the stem, so even; the disciple ought to get off from love of the world, lust, luxury, ambition, pride, censoriousness, hardheartedness, hatred, anger, jealousy, stubbornness, bitterness, immorality, etc or else the same fate as the useless branch awaits the disciple. They are unfitting to Christian, Eph. 5:3, for these defile the spirit and need be purged. Branch cut off from the vine either dries out or decay, that is, disciple cannot exist independent of the Master. Disciples easily understood and related what exactly Jesus meant.

One called as Christian devoid of morality is the greatest danger to society. Selfishness has outgrown to endemic proportion that people demean themselves, stoop down to the lowest level of animals to scandalize the innocent and the righteous. Propaganda, scandals and slanders aimed at character assassination of the supposed-dissenters in the church far outwit all secular politicians. According to recent news, as in all cases, out of pure jealousy and revenge a Pentecostal pastor spread scandals through Internet to damage the reputation of another pastor of same congregation. Kerala police Hi-tech unit dug out the source. The court punished the culprit. Scoundrels spend considerable time, money and efforts to spread falsehood through filthy-anonymous letters to destroy the reputation of bishops, priests' family and faithful. All the more awful fact is that mostly the masterminds are clergies. They are numerous and beyond the scope of attention. What these dastardly cowards lost sense is that they pass their iniquities upon their children, Ex. 20:5. The cry of the innocent reaches heaven and God is their refuge. "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven," Mat 5:11-12 consoles them.

Verse 7 promises that our prayers shall be answered if we live in unity with Christ. Simply reciting, "Glory to God" does not impact salvation should we not keep the words of Christ. There is no other shortcut; proper glory to God demands living in obedience to the words of Christ. Prayer is not simply begging for comfort but an active communion with God. It should never be directed to fulfill selfish ambitions. Pray in the name of Jesus Christ for common good.

Jesus reveals the secret of Christian joy, "My joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full," v11. Without exception all are in the pursuit of happiness. The world entices many, promises happiness but ultimately all end up in despair. Solomon is the best witness; he said, "Whatever my eyes desired, I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from any joy ... behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit and there was no profit under the sun," Eccl 2:10-11. Jesus explained that the real and lasting joy is found only in self-emptying love and keeping the unity with God the father. Self-emptying love points toward servant-hood. But it is not slavery. Slaves on those days were nothing but 'living tools.' Slave obeys his master because of fear but friends obey because of love. Jesus commanded to obey God and love fellowmen. God considers the disciple not as servant but as friend. The very purpose of Christ coming to the world was to liberate humanity from all man-made bondages. Therefore St Paul reminds not to go back to the life of bondage again. Freedom in Christ is a great privilege; let no one squander it by evil deeds.

Disciple should always keep in mind that the disciple is not above master, neither self-made nor he deserves but by grace he/she is disciple. Jesus reminded them, by treatment as equals or as friends, they are not above Christ. Not that we in our pursuit found God but He came in search of us and redeemed us. Whether or not one responds favorably, God loves everyone unconditionally. But the love of God cannot do any good unless one keeps the commandments.

Circumcision in the Old Testament was sign of dedicating a child to God. Mary and Joseph dedicated Infant Jesus to God. According to the Law he was circumcised on the eighth day. Eighth day is the day of creation, resurrection and hence new life. Circumcision was the sign of covenant with God and membership in the Jewish community. Circumcision was the seal of God's gift of righteousness. The purpose was, "Walk before me and be perfect," Gen 17:1, as a token of grace. God chose men to work as his own thus, obedience was a must. St Paul says, if obedience is absent the circumcision renders meaningless, Rom 2:25-29. This reminds that we ought to obey the law of the land and law of the Spirit; a good thought for New Year indeed!

On the New Year Day the Church encourages us to meditate the great gift of self-giving love, the love of God that transcend all human limitations, our mission to love one another without the blemish of selfishness, the non negotiable need to live in unity with Christ, the high and exalted position of the redeemed in the presence of God, our relationship as sibling to Christ, faith in the efficacy of prayer, call to bear fruits, and our appointment as envoys to Christ, our obligation to seek after God's righteousness and obey God's commandments.

With these thoughts, my family and I wish you all a very happy, prosperous and blessed New Year. "Let the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace," Num 6:24-26.