At Christmas, we proclaim with joy and trembling wonder: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Into a weary, fractured world, Jesus comes—not in might or spectacle, but in the vulnerability of a child. He enters history not from above, but from within—into poverty, political unrest, and social division. And he brings with him light that cannot be extinguished.
We live in times not so unlike that first Christmas. Our world aches with division—between nations, neighbours, and even within our own hearts. The darkness can feel overwhelming: injustice, isolation, conflict. But it is precisely here that the light of Christ makes its dwelling.
The light Jesus brings is not passive or ornamental. It is active, dynamic, and transformative. It heals what is broken. It exposes what needs changing. And it calls us—boldly and lovingly—into the work of reconciliation.
As the Church, we are invited not merely to admire this light, but to bear it. To be living candles in our communities: comforting the grieving, lifting the lowly, speaking truth with love, and choosing unity over division. Christmas reminds us that God has not abandoned us to the shadows. He has come among us, and still does—in every act of compassion, in every risk for peace, in every heart turned toward hope.
This Christmas, may we receive the Light of Christ anew—and have the courage to carry it into the world that so desperately needs it.
The Light Shines in the Darkness…
At Christmas, we proclaim with joy and trembling wonder: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Into a weary, fractured world, Jesus comes—not in might or spectacle, but in the vulnerability of a child. He enters history not from above, but from within—into poverty, political unrest, and social division. And he brings with him light that cannot be extinguished.
We live in times not so unlike that first Christmas. Our world aches with division—between nations, neighbours, and even within our own hearts. The darkness can feel overwhelming: injustice, isolation, conflict. But it is precisely here that the light of Christ makes its dwelling.
The light Jesus brings is not passive or ornamental. It is active, dynamic, and transformative. It heals what is broken. It exposes what needs changing. And it calls us—boldly and lovingly—into the work of reconciliation.
As the Church, we are invited not merely to admire this light, but to bear it. To be living candles in our communities: comforting the grieving, lifting the lowly, speaking truth with love, and choosing unity over division. Christmas reminds us that God has not abandoned us to the shadows. He has come among us, and still does—in every act of compassion, in every risk for peace, in every heart turned toward hope.
This Christmas, may we receive the Light of Christ anew—and have the courage to carry it into the world that so desperately needs it.
The Right Reverend Dr. Susan Bell serves as the 12th Bishop of Niagara.
A strategic, mission-centred, spiritual leader, Bishop Bell strives to listen and watch for where God is at work in the church and the world and then to come alongside that work to further the Way of Love.
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