A wish for the new year: towards eternity...

[…] Towards the eternity we step, my brothers. And now, another year has passed. We welcome a new year. What will it bring us? We do not know. We do not know if we will live for tomorrow. Unceasingly one must await his departure, especially us elders, reaching the sunset of life. But also, the young. We do not know “What the present moment will offer”.  And I wonder next year, in a day like this, how many of us will still be here living? […] Are you imagining of dreams and envisioning an endless life? But eternity is approaching my dear; the biggest moment is awaiting to arise.

What should I wish you, my dear? Wealth, glory, honors, delights, pleasures? […] How meaningless is everything. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1, 2). Only one thing remains: your belief in Christ. There is no other name that can give us joy and hope during this coming year, Whom, us children, praise and exalt into the ages of ages. Amen!

Excerpt of a homily delivered by Metropolitan Augustine of Florina in the Church of St. Panteleimon, Florida, 31.12.1974, during the New Year’ Eve services