Category Archives: holy days

A prayer for the earthbound

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

As deeply as he descended among the dead, plumbing Hell and Hades,the limits of human horror too easily imaginedby the earthbound; so far he invites us to soar beyond our petty promises of punishment and death, to life beyond the … Continue reading →

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The midwives

Posted on April 11, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

Afterwards, whenthey found you again,did they use their ointments, spices, clothto bandage your wounds? Hairline scratches from the halo of thorns; how did you bear the grass beneath your feet? Midwives of the body,did they wipe your hands with aloe,wash … Continue reading →

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Good Friday: a pieta

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

He died with the cry crushed from his chest,calling out from the cross to his mother.They crucified him on a stolen hill.They gambled away his clothes.He called out to his mother, shecould not swaddle his naked pain. When he was … Continue reading →

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Maundy Thursday: washing Judas’ feet

Posted on April 1, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

The devil had already sown the seeds of betrayal in Judas’ heart, and Jesus knew it full well. He let Judas know that he knew it. And he washed Judas’ feet. Continue reading →

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Washed in the word

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

Beside a lake melted into being by glaciers I bathe my feet in your word made water – the fluidity of creation – dry them in the sand, scourings of the land eroded, as all flesh, remade asa million grains … Continue reading →

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How I discovered that I have no sense of smell

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

if my devotions appear lacking or incomplete,
charge it I pray to my imperfect property,
and not to my intent. Continue reading →

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Are we there yet?

Posted on March 28, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is nothing in Christ’s story that would justify our sacrifice of children, women, grocery shoppers, police officers, and passers by to defend our right to reserve weapons of violence to ourselves. On the contrary, the resurrection is God’s ultimate judgement on the violence that nailed Jesus to the cross. The resurrection is God’s utter negation and reversal of all that would kill the beloved. Continue reading →

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Holy Saturday

Posted on March 27, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

Sealedin a tomb innocentof inscription, the stoneworn smooth by centuries of rain, the tears of heaven shedfor this, the day of dereliction, God’sChrist is dead;his body, unanointed, plumbsthe depths of human dissipation,And will he find me there,*buried in my own … Continue reading →

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Ash Wednesday comes around again

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

Ashes line the grate after the great snow storm. Chill strikes down the chimney; a ghost stepping over the grave of last night’s fire. Ashes lift and shiver, settle and sigh, whisper to the warm wood tales of passion; eagerly, … Continue reading →

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Resisting evil

Posted on January 10, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

On the Feast of the Epiphany, the day on which we celebrate God’s revelation of the Incarnation of Christ to the nations of the world, images from our nation’s capital were cast about the globe of insurrectionists wrapped in flags, some with the name of the president and symbols of civil war, and some which bore with them the holy name of Jesus. Continue reading →

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