Category Archives: sermon

Year A Proper 25: For the love of God

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

This post has been updated to reflect the version preached at the Church of the Epiphany, Euclid, Ohio, October 26th. Which commandment is the greatest? they asked. It is not, in fact, a difficult question. How else can you even … Continue reading →

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Year A Proper 24: the stewardship sermon

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

The question about taxes, and rendering unto Caesar, led into a sermon with time for pew-talk. The outline / framework went something like this: Jesus does a really nice politician’s job of handing the question back to the Pharisees and … Continue reading →

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Render

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

A silhouette against my eyelids, black on red; a name beaten out by my heart’s tattoo; the claim that staked me through and through; I render unto, surrender unto – whose image and title is this?

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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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