As the New Year of 2011 dawns upon us we raise our hearts and minds to God in acknowledgement of His Providence which has guided humanity in the year gone by. It was an eventful year, which allowed us to deepen our experience of God amidst its ups and downs. As we welcome this one more year, may each one of us be aware that we are endowed with the sacred right to a full life, which includes also its spiritual dimension. Without this openness to the spiritual reality, the human person withdraws within himself, fails to find answers to the heart’s deepest questions about the meaning of life, fails to appropriate lasting ethical values and principles, and fails even to experience authentic freedom and to build a just society. A very happy New Year to one and all!

+ Filipe Neri Ferrao

Archbishop of Goa and Daman