As we step into this new year, Bishop Rachel and I want to begin by offering our thanks for your extraordinary hard work over the Christmas season. It was a privilege to share in some services and see the joy and delight in those who came to worship the newborn Christ. Across our parishes, chaplaincies, schools, and communities, thousands encountered hospitality, hope, and the light of Christ because of your dedication.
Although the decorations may now be coming down, the message of Christmas continues to speak with power. The readings for this season remind us that Christmas is not merely a moment—it is a beginning. John tells us that “the Word became flesh and lived among us”— not briefly, not symbolically, but truly and enduringly. Christ dwells with us still. He walks with us into this year’s uncertainties, opportunities, challenges, and joys.
St Paul, writing to the Ephesians, reminds us that in Christ we are blessed, chosen, and adopted — recipients of grace that is “lavished” upon us. This abundant grace is not something to be stored away like a precious possession. It is a gift meant to shape us, soften us, steady us, and ultimately be shared with a world longing for hope.
Our Christmas celebrates invite us to live this year with a renewed sense of identity. Not defined by fear, pressure, or achievement, but grounded in the love of the One whose image we bear. Each encounter, each decision, each act of service becomes an opportunity to allow Christ’s light to shine through us.
The need for that light to shine has never been more pressing. John’s Gospel does not ignore the reality of darkness in our world — darkness of conflict, loneliness, injustice, or uncertainty — but it gives us a promise to hold with confidence: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
So as 2026 begins, may a flame be kindled within us: a flame of justice, standing with the vulnerable; a flame of mercy, forgiving as we have been forgiven; a flame of peace, seeking reconciliation over resentment; a flame of hope, refusing to let darkness have the final word.
The Word has become flesh and remains. Grace is given and continues to flow.
May Christ’s light guide and sustain us in the months ahead.
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