Grace and peace to you from God our Creator and Christ Jesus, the Light of the world.

I greet you in this Season of Revelation and Light on behalf of the West Ohio Conference Center staff, the district superintendents and the pastors and laity of nearly 1,150 congregations in the West Ohio Conference.

Christians have historically celebrated a Christmas and Epiphany season which begins on Christmas Day and ends on February 2 – the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (described in Luke 2:22-38).  Partway through this season, on January 6, falls Epiphany, a feast day marking the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus.

The common element linking all these holy days is revelation.  The very word “epiphany” means to make known or to reveal.  At Christmas, God makes himself known in human form:  “The word became flesh and lived among us” (John 1:14).  At the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the fulfillment of God’s promises is revealed when Simeon, a model of the prophetic tradition, speaks:  “My eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:30).  At Epiphany, God looks to an even wider canvas as Jesus is revealed to the Gentile Magi and, thus, to the whole world.

One of the great themes of these various holy days is light.  We light the Christ candle on Christmas.  During the celebration of Jesus’ Presentation in the Temple, candles are lighted as a symbol of Christ, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32).  On Epiphany we celebrate that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5).  The image of Christ as light bursting into the darkness and shattering it is powerful, reassuring and compelling.

I rejoice in the hundreds of United Methodist congregations in the West Ohio Conference that tirelessly and faithfully reveal the love of God by daily reaching out into their neighborhoods, communities and the world.  They are fulfilling our mission of making and equipping disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  They bear witness to this central and eternal truth:  Light has dawned.

And so, I pray:

      Almighty God,
               your son, our Savior Jesus Christ, is the light of the world.
      Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacrament,
               may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory,
      that he may be known, worshipped and obeyed
               to the ends of the earth, now and forever.  Amen
                                    (The Book of Common Prayer, U.S.A.  20th Century)

Bishop Bruce Ough

January 2010