Category Archives: sermon

Year A Proper 23: come to the feast

Posted on October 12, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

There have been two weddings in this church in the past ten days, and three within three months. Each was its own blend of nervousness, family friendship, family friction, love, hope, and joy. Each of them was noticeable, in the … Continue reading →

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The wedding robe

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

White lace cut down to a christening robe. Later, a doll with curly blonde hair wore my mother’s leftover wedding weeds, a moulded Miss Haversham preserved in plastic, dressed for the feast, rosebud lips perpetually parted for love.

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Year A Proper 22: parables and other stories

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is a kind of through the looking glass feel to this parable. If you think of the classic fairy tale structure, where a king sends three messengers on a quest to redeem his belongings, in this case the wine … Continue reading →

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Vineyards

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

I cannot grow an apple tree, aromatic herbs, fresh flowers. I dig and plant and water and weed; everything dies. I drink the wine of another’s vineyard, climb the walls to scrump the orchard, cadge the scent of another’s roses … Continue reading →

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Year A Proper 21: a problem with authority

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

Based on today’s New Testament texts: Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32 Let the same mind be in you that is in Christ Jesus. Here’s a little window into the mind of Jesus; the humble one, the slave, obedient unto death, even … Continue reading →

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Year A Proper 21: By whose authority?

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

Rarely does Jesus give a straight answer to a straight question; but rarely, too, is he quite as direct about his indirection as he is here. Leading to the following reflection: Can you imagine being Jesus’ mother? I don’t mean … Continue reading →

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Year A Proper 20: Jonah and anti-Jonah

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

Poor, petulant Jonah. If he couldn’t give the Ninevites hell, he wanted to at least give them purgatory. I’ve done all of this work, he said, endured all of this drama: the running away the wailing and gnashing of teeth, … Continue reading →

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The Gospel according to Jonah

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

In the form of a bedtime board book: I love you to the end of the ocean. I love you to the depth of the sea. I love you to the belly of the whale and back. * I love you … Continue reading →

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Year A Proper 19: forgiving

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

You remember the Joseph story: “Way way back many centuries ago, not long after the Bible began…” Jacob was the grandson of Abraham, and the father of the twelve tribes of Israel – in fact, it was Jacob who was … Continue reading →

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Year A Proper 18: where two or three

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

And isn’t this what the church is for? Two or three gathered together to raise up the Divine Presence among them? I don’t mean that the Eucharist is some sort of séance to conjure up the Spirit of Christ. We … Continue reading →

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