Author Archives: Rosalind C Hughes

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About Rosalind C Hughes

Rosalind C Hughes is an Episcopal priest, poet, and author living near the shores of Lake Erie. After growing up in England and Wales, and living briefly in Singapore, she is now settled in Ohio. Rosalind is the author of A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing , and Whom Shall I Fear? Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence, both from Upper Room Books. She loves the lake, misses the ocean, and is finally coming to terms with snow.

Year A Advent 2: Snakes and other stories

There are a lot of snakes in today’s readings. In Isaiah, a small child plays over the nests of asps and adders. In Matthew, John the Baptizer calls the Pharisees a brood of vipers. Now, a quick survey of biblical … Continue reading

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In memoriam

Earlier this year, I preached a sermon about fire and forgiveness, looking back and looking forward. Nelson Mandela, gravely ill at the time, was a great inspiration: I know that I am not the only preacher this morning who looked … Continue reading

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John of Damascus

A homily for Evensong at Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland. In a characteristically involving novel, Kazuo Ishiguro broached the subject of souls. I don’t want to give too much away, in case you still want to read the book or see the … Continue reading

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Year A Advent 1

And so the season, the year, begins in the middle – in the middle of the story, in the middle of a field where two men are working, and there then was one; in the mill, where two women are … Continue reading

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Year A Advent 1: starting in the middle

In the middle of the story, in the middle of the day, when two women are in the middle of a studied silence over the millstone. They are not speaking. One of them is not speaking so hard, she disappears. … Continue reading

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Sermon for Christ the King 2013

The gospel of Luke, which we have been reading since last Advent; the gospel of Luke, from its beginning to its end, is about a revolution, the quiet revolution of the Magnificat, the secret story of a young woman who … Continue reading

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Christ the King

The honest thief Don’t tell me you are saving me while we hang here side by side in searing pain under a searing sun; don’t talk to me of gardens of ease where mercy falls down like a river when … Continue reading

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Hoping and praying

Illuminated by hope, prayer chatters across the garden fence between earth and heaven, clouding the air with gossipy details… When hope has set beyond the horizon, prayer retreats into the house, slams the door, draws down the shades,  unwilling to submit to … Continue reading

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Year C Proper 28: Work and do not be weary

They are words that strike terror into the hearts of the unemployed, the underemployed, the working poor, the uninsured. They are words that form a hard and heavy stone in the stomachs of too many people, even in these enlightened … Continue reading

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Anything but straightforward

“Those who will not work will not eat:”  There are several nuances to the seemingly harsh sentence that we miss when we reduce it to a slogan. … …  there is the description of work itself. We use the word work … Continue reading

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