Author Archives: Rosalind C Hughes

Unknown's avatar

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 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 , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in other words | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

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

Posted in holy days, homily | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

Posted in lectionary reflection, sermon preparation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in lectionary reflection, poetry, sermon preparation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

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

Posted in poetry | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment