The day of Christmas has come and gone, but the Church continues to live in Christmastide. While the world quickly packs away decorations and moves on, the season of Christmas continues to invite us to linger with the mystery of God made flesh.
As we stand at the edge of a new year, many of us carry more than we expected. Alongside gratitude and hope, there may be grief, unanswered prayers, lingering illness, broken relationships, or deep uncertainty about what lies ahead.
This season, after Christmas, is a natural time to name a tricky but honest faith question. If God is loving and good, why does suffering still exist? Theology gives this question a name: theodicy. It comes from words meaning 'God' and 'justice,' and it wrestles with how faith speaks when life does not make sense. Theodicy is not an abstract idea meant only for scholars. It shows up in hospital rooms, at gravesides, in news headlines, and in the quiet moments when we wonder why things did not turn out differently. Scripture does not shy away from these questions. The Psalms are filled with cries of lament. Job argues boldly with God. Even Jesus, hanging on the cross, voices anguish and abandonment. Faith has always made room for honest struggle.
Christmastide reminds us that God did not remain distant from human pain. The child born in Bethlehem grew into one who walked among the hurting, healed the broken, and ultimately entered suffering fully. God did not offer easy explanations. God offered presence. Emmanuel, God with us, did not leave when things became difficult.
As we move into a new year, the question may not be “Why did this happen?” as much as “Where is God now?” Christian faith answers that God is still near, still listening, still holding us when answers are hard to find.
The new year often invites resolutions and fresh starts. It also invites honesty. We begin again, not because everything is fixed, but because God continues to walk with us, even through uncertainty. Hope does not erase pain. It grows alongside it.
As we step forward together, may this Christmastide season remind us that questions are welcome, faith is spacious, and hope rests in the quiet but steady promise that we do not walk alone.