St. Michael and All Angels

As the calendar turns to January, the word resolution is everywhere. According to the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1993 edition), its meaning includes:

The process of reducing a non-material object into a simpler form. Determination; firmness or steadfastness.

By now, the excitement of Christmas has faded, and the baby in the manger seems a distant memory and the world will soon have forgotten its New Year celebrations and resolutions. Perhaps your resolutions are already broken and left behind? Perhaps a few of us are pondering what difference the 25th December really made? Where is peace on earth? Where is peace in my life? Has anything truly been resolved?

In church, January worship might seem to echo this sense of moving on. The wise men finally arrive on Epiphany (6th January – marking the end of the Christmas season), but after that, the baby Jesus vanishes, apart, that is, from a brief appearance on the 2nd of February! No baby, but Jesus is not gone, he’s grown. And in the traditional readings of the Epiphany season, we are reminded just who this Jesus is.

‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased,’ says the voice from heaven. ‘Teacher, you are the Son of God,’ declares Nathanael. At a wedding in Cana, Jesus turns water into wine – the first of his signs, revealing his glory.

What is or was your resolution this year? Mine is to make sure that I have enough time to write a new magazine letter instead of reworking an old one (with or without the help of AI)! However, the real question is not what resolutions we make, let alone keep. It is with what resolution we see Jesus. Is he just a baby in a manger or is he also the Son of God, who lived, died, rose, and was glorified – and all that for you and me?

May your resolution grow ever clearer.

Revd Mark Davys

St. Michael and All Angels

Looking for a New Resolution