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.

The not ungrateful leper

It was not ingratitude silenced me, but inadequacy; the paucity of my language; the paltry dance of palsied limbs, trembling as a fawn, trembling as one newly born, barely breathing; rasping out music as though the song had been buried … Continue reading

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Worthless

We had a church full of animals this morning, so I kept the sermon brief and, hopefully, to the point. I did say a little more, but here was the crux of the matter, reckons this worthless slave: Jesus asked, … Continue reading

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Mustard seed blessings

We had an interesting discussion at Bible Study this week on the slave parables and sayings of Jesus. The harsh judgement that is rendered this Sunday: Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when … Continue reading

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Michael and all angels

I am tired of angels. I am tired of their wings beating hollow drums of war, their obsequious, their patronizing, “Do not be afraid;’ their inconvenient words to frightened virgins and old women. I am tired of their entrapment of … Continue reading

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Of refrigerators, the Borg, and Jesus’ prayer for his disciples

A homily for Unity at the first Euclid Ecumenical Service at the Cathedral Worship Center of Euclid, Ohio We read from John 17. You know those public prayers where the person praying ostensibly addresses themselves to God, but in reality … Continue reading

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The chasms fixed between us

A sermon on Luke 16:19-31: the parable of the rich man and Lazarus The parable describes a way of life which starkly separates the rich man from the poor, the privileged from the dispossessed. It describes how these differences and … Continue reading

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Rich blessings

An ironic title, given the gospel text? This Sunday, we hear of Lazarus and the rich man, known by some as Dives, although that may or may not be what his brothers called him. Paul warns that the love of … Continue reading

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The yearning

I dare not reach for glory, for fear of falling. I cannot bear to love you, for fear of drowning. I dare not turn away from you, for fear of desolation.

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Pray even for kings

A sermon for Year C Proper 20: Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13 For Paul to write in his letter that we should pray for kings is akin almost to Jesus’ commandment that we pray for our enemies. When you consider … Continue reading

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Sea and sky

A week ago, I was in the tropics, enjoying the ocean, the rain forest, the island.  I took my first ever ride on a jet ski; we saw sea turtles, swimming fast and deep, glinting green. I thought about the … Continue reading

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