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A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing
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Author Archives: Rosalind C Hughes
The Eve of the Epiphany
A side note to tomorrow’s sermon: It is not unimportant that the wise men came from the East. Why not from the West, from Rome or Greece or Gaul? Maybe in part to undermine the wisdom of the empire, but … Continue reading
Breast feeding in church
Breast-feeding is on the rise, but in church it’s still an issue I saw this on Facebook this evening, and I had to wonder all over again how feeding babies ever became such a hot button issue. Admittedly, first time … Continue reading
Posted in other words
Tagged babies, breastfeeding, church, facebook, parenting, religion news.com
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Reflection for the turn of the year
I told you, didn’t I? I told you that the walls were cracked and warped, crumbling and full of rising damp and dry rot, unfit for habitation. But you went right ahead and moved in anyway. First, you knocked though … Continue reading
Christmas 1
Tomorrow is children’s day at Epiphany – the children are leading us, as in “a little child” etc. For me, poetry is timeless and ageless. The Prologue of St John might be a little obscure to the 6-year-old mind, but … Continue reading
Posted in sermon preparation
Tagged Genesis, God, Jesus, John 1:1-18, Prologue of St John, the word
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A light reflection for Christmas Day
Why do we read John on Christmas morning, instead of one of those cute pageant stories from Matthew or Luke? It is because for John, this is Christmas: that Christ was born before the worlds began, as old as God, … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily
Tagged Christmas, John 1:1-18, John's Prologue, light, pageant
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Sermon for a Christmas Eve with pick-up pageant
This sermon was written for a Christmas Eve on which the Church of the Epiphany hosted a pick-up pageant, invited any and all children to come and pick out a costume to join in the play as they arrived in … Continue reading
Posted in holy days, homily, sermon
Tagged angels, Christmas Eve, Emmanuel, God, Jesus, nativity, pageant, shepherds, unpredicability
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Year A Advent 4: playing the fool
You have to wonder how many times Joseph had that dream. I mean, once is good; but after a few days, a weeks, wouldn’t you find yourself wondering all over again what was going on, worrying whether you had been … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged 1Corinthians 1:25, Advent, Christmas, collect for Advent, dreams, foolishness, God, Incarnation, Joseph, Mary, Matthew 1:18-25, miracles, Psalm 14:1, Romans 1:1-7
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Blue Christmas 2013
There is a scene in the extended poem by W.H. Auden, For the Time Being, that has never left me since I first read it. The language is so visual I can almost see it. Transplanted into contemporary England – … Continue reading
Posted in homily
Tagged Blitz, Christmas, Christmas Oratorio, explosion, For the time being, gift, Jesus, Joseph, love, Mary, Matthew 1:18-25, WH Auden
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Year A Advent 3
John sends a message from prison. Whether he is worried, depressed, or angry we don’t know; but he asks, through his disciples, “Are you the one, or are we still waiting for somebody else?” John has already told the whole … Continue reading
Posted in sermon
Tagged advent 3, Bonhoeffer, disciples, Elie Wiesel, Jesus, John the Baptist, optimism, prison
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Saint Lucy’s Day
An Advent meditation for the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio Friday, December 13, 2013 I remember learning, from John Donne’s Nocturnall, that S Lucie’s day was the shortest, the darkest, “the yeares midnight,” as he would have it. It took me … Continue reading
Posted in advent meditations, holy days, poetry
Tagged Advent, John 1:9, John Donne, light, shortest day, St Lucy, year's midnight
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over the water 