Category Archives: holy days

Rolling stone

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

I like to imagine that instead of rolling the stone he turned it into bread for the birds to swarm and peck, hungry for spring time and their nests, carrying it crumb by crumb to feed their young, open-mouthed and … Continue reading →

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Easter 2020: empty

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

The tabernacle remains void of the reserved Sacrament. Our pews remain empty of our voices. The building remains empty of alleluias.
But I was reminded this week that on that first Easter, it was the tomb that was empty. And that reminded me that before God created the heavens and the earth, all was empty and void. And see what God created out of that emptiness. And remember the new life that Jesus brought out of the empty tomb. Continue reading →

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Saturday 2020: there is a time

Posted on April 11, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

We read, there is a time to live and a time to die; we thought we get to choose, but even Saturday dawns bright yellow with birdsong; it stretches into Easter churches, silencing their pews, emptying the air of alleluias   Trump said … Continue reading →

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Friday 2020

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

The loneliness of death frightens us … we are rightly afraid, I am afraid that I will be unequal to my promises, the promise of Peter, though all become deserters, to stay with you, to stay near you, come what may.
I am unequal to my promises, but Jesus is not. If nothing else, he proved that on the Cross. Continue reading →

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Thursday 2020: Betrayal

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

“One of you,” he said, “will betray me,” and each of them immediately beset his soul with cross-examination, face afire with a thousand slights, deft denials and sleight of conscience, self-deception well practised since the first temptation in the Garden … Continue reading →

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Wednesday 2020: Cornerstone

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

Look for the cornerstone, smutted and mossed, every so often sandblasted clean, surprising anew; not the one five blocks up with date and name, but below, at ground level, hefting the weight of the world, unnoticed for the most part, … Continue reading →

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Tuesday 2020: By whose authority?

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

One asks, Is it politic? One asks, Will it profit a man? One asks, Is it legal? One asks, Is it ethical? One asks, Is it even practical? One asks, Is it possible? One asks, Is it blasphemy; if so, … Continue reading →

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Monday 2020: Cleansing the temple

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

Monday morning: disinfecting doorknobs, disaffecting traders, tilting tables to wipe them down, zealously sanitizing sacred space, swiping between compassion and contempt; mask slipping, brow sweating, having tested positive for mortality Also from Monday’s Daily Office readings: How lonely sits the … Continue reading →

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Palm Sunday 2020

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

After the psalms have died away and the palm leaves dry and brittle in the dust have crumbled underfoot; after the streets have emptied, crowds drained through doorways, their thunder spent, a stone heart whispers still, Hosanna: saviour, save us.

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Chasing clouds

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

Not as children naming
animals in a fluffy sky; nor yet
storm chasers, seeking secrets
funnelled from heaven to earth; more
refugees from understanding,
lost in bewilderment, following
clouds across the wilderness
desert dry-mouthed – Continue reading →

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