Category Archives: sermon

Ash Wednesday

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is, on occasion, a disconnect between our words and our actions. We smile through gritted teeth as we make polite conversation with someone we do not like. We have profound and prolonged conversations about liberty and justice as we … Continue reading →

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Year C, Last Sunday after the Epiphany: Transformative prayer

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

The season of Sundays following the Epiphany is bookended by that voice from heaven that declares that Jesus is the beloved Son of God. On the Sunday following the Epiphany, at the Baptism of Our Lord, the heavens are opened … Continue reading →

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Spiritual warfare: a sonnet with apologies to Hamlet

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

The “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” have nothing on the armour-piercing fury of a bullet tipped with wormwood gall; no arbitrary missile this, but launched from beyond the earth; underworld to surface borne on wings of fire, brimstone burning, … Continue reading →

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Year C Epiphany 4: God loves you, no exceptions

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

The title is from a billboard and bumper stickers put out by the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio. It’s one of my favourites, the other being, “If you’re looking for a sign from God, here it is.” Once upon a time, … Continue reading →

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Year C Epiphany 4: Early reflections on Luke 4:21-30

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

Once upon a time, a boy was born, and he grew up in a regular-sized town, and the people who knew people knew him – the teachers and the coaches and the librarians, the grocers and the beat cops, his … Continue reading →

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Year C Epiphany 3: The year of the Lord’s favour

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

There has never been a time that God was absent from us. There have been times when it seemed a close thing. The Flood, for example, the bondage in Egypt, the Exile, the cry of dereliction from the cross. But … Continue reading →

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Year C Epiphany 2: Sermon for Annual Meeting Sunday

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

In another year, perhaps this sermon will sound more like an annual report. For today, since I was only here for a quarter of last year, I feel as though I’m still finding my way around a little; there are … Continue reading →

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Year C Epiphany 1: For us, and for our salvation

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

After Christmas, after Epiphany, we come to the baptism of Jesus. In a way, this story is the culmination and confirmation of everything that has happened up to now. An angel announced his conception. Faithful even before he was born, … Continue reading →

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In bodily form

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

When our bodies betray us, let us down, we berate them, hesitate to call them holy, when, after all, they are the sacrament of God’s creative genius, each featherlight touch a reminder of the love that engendered our creation, redemption, … Continue reading →

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Telling stories: extracts from a sermon on Jesus in the Temple, aged twelve

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

I have a weakness, I confess, for all things biblical, especially stories, especially imaginative retellings of biblical stories, or poetry, or words, words, words … I am drawn like a moth to a flame to a new fictionalized gospel account, … Continue reading →

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