Category Archives: homily

Good Friday: his own people

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Rosalind C Hughes

At the beginning of the Gospel according to John, we read that, He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and … Continue reading →

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Maundy Thursday: the mother of all mercy

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Rosalind C Hughes

What should Jesus have done about Judas? In a way, Thursday was the final chance. There is a pipeline from here to the tomb. Once Judas has left the table, Jesus knows that his fate is sealed. Yet earlier in … Continue reading →

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For the love of libraries

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Rosalind C Hughes

Yesterday was the commemoration of Thomas Bray, who founded scores of lending libraries and founded the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge and the Society for the Promulgation of the Gospel. The gospel reading appointed for his festival is … Continue reading →

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Christmas Eve

Posted on December 24, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

A message for and from the Church of the Epiphany, Euclid, Ohio There’s something strange about the sign that the shepherds outside Bethlehem received that Christmas night so long ago. After all, if a choir of angels appears above the … Continue reading →

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

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

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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Maundy Thursday: sacrificing others

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

Caiaphas, the High Priest to whom Judas betrayed Jesus: Caiaphas had determined that it would be better for one man to be put to death for the sake of appeasing the Romans, for the sake of keeping the peace; for … Continue reading →

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An Ash Wednesday meditation

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

We are dust, and to dust we shall return. That much is true, and yet it is not the whole truth. We are dust. We are accounted as dust in the scales of creation and God, of the nations and … Continue reading →

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The Dorchester chaplains: friends of God

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

Homily for Evensong at Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland A website dedicated to the memory of the Dorchester chaplains describes a fine detail: Petty Officer John J. Mahoney, tried to reenter his cabin but Rabbi Goode stopped him. Mahoney, concerned about the … Continue reading →

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A very brief Epiphany homily

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is a huge risk that God takes, to be born, made incarnate, made flesh, not only in secret, the flesh and blood of an insignificant country couple who barely know where he came from. It is a huge risk, … Continue reading →

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Sermon for a Christmas Eve pageant

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Rosalind C Hughes

And so here we all are. Here is Mary, exhausted. There’s a reason that childbirth is called labour: it’s a workout. Here is Joseph, permanently bewildered, still not really sure what’s happening, but see the love that he has for … Continue reading →

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