Your Eminence, beloved brother in Christ,
Archbishop Spyridon of America,
Your Grace Bishop Isaiah of Denver,
Distinguished religious leaders and honored guests,
Beloved children in the Lord,

We greet you with a salutation of peace, as our Lord greeted His Disciples on the evening of the Resurrection.  We come to you from the Mother Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, conveying a message of peace, hope and love for all people of the world.
We have come to America, accompanied by our honorable company — representatives from the ancient Christian Sees of the East — to celebrate the 75th anniversary of our beloved daughter Church, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.  The phenomenal growth of the Orthodox Church in this country is a testimony to the spirit of religious freedom that permeates the American landscape.  Inasmuch as we are gathered in a place of thanksgiving, during a month when America gives thanks to God as a nation, we have thought it most appropriate to settle our attention on this theme.  And so we ask you to lend us your kind attention.
Giving thanks is a shared experience by all religious communities in America.   Especially for the right to worship according to the dictates of conscience, America is well deserving of the gratitude of its citizens.   Different faith traditions live side by side in harmony, because America recognizes the rights of each group to participate in the life of the greater society.  In other parts of the world, many of our traditions do not know this liberty.   But is this cause, for thanks not to be rendered to the Creator?
The central act of worship of the Orthodox Church is the celebration of the Eucharist, what we call the Divine Liturgy.  For Orthodox Christians, it is the ultimate act of thanksgiving, in which we offer to God the totality of ourselves and all creation, in gratitude for His beneficence to us.  It is the quintessential sign of our faith.
Throughout the decades of communist domination throughout Eastern Europe, when personal freedoms were virtually unknown, the Eucharist continued to be celebrated.  Our thanksgiving persevered, despite the most horrific persecution of Christians in history.  For those who live in a land of freedom, the witness of these acts of thanksgiving should inform their appreciation of their own religious existence.
Gratitude to our Creator cannot be limited only to conditions that facilitate our free expressions of love for Him.  Our gratitude must be true, that is, constant, unlimited and without boundaries.  If we are able to worship God without civil constraints or outright persecution, then we have only rendered Him due appreciation.  On the other hand, if we express our loving gratitude to Him, even in the midst of hardship and oppression, then we are shown to be loving children of God.
As people of many faiths, and more importantly, as people of faith, we are all called to manifest our love for God, in the giving of genuine thanks and praise.  And what better way, in a country that affords virtually perfect religious liberty, than to embrace our diversity with a spirit of perfect tolerance.  And what better way, in a world with much less than universal religious freedom, than to behold others unlike ourselves, with respect, deference, and appreciation of their cultural and religious traditions.
Dearly beloved and new-found friends, we give thanks to you for this warm reception and your hospitality to our person and our companions.  We pray that as you continue your work of mutual understanding, you will be rewarded with the recompense of a deeper thankfulness to the Creator of us all.
As we began with peace, so we close with peace, praying that God may grant His perfect concord and harmony to your community of different beliefs, and the abundance of His infinite mercy.  Amen.