Tag Archives: Advent

Advent (the second coming)

Posted on November 26, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is no cloud of glory can define, no gates of heaven can confine; there is no dogma, doggerel, or doctrine can describe, no earnest imitation reinscribe him.  Christ’s coming cannot be constrained or restrained by our rituals of mortality.Our candles are dimmed, our illuminated manuscripts … Continue reading →

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Christmas is coming

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

“Christmas is coming” meant that somebody was running out of patience, out of breath like a woman in labour; like a baby in the birth canal, out of options to retreat; as though, if one didn’t pay attention to the tone of a mother’s exasperation, pregnant and impending, one day it would be too late. Continue reading →

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Advent snowfall

Posted on December 1, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

Snow: slowrelentless coveringsharp corners disguising thin ice with deep pilesuffocating beauty: eachfractal shrugging off the image of its neighbour endless variations ona theme devised before danger delivered into the world under the shadow of life

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Dreamers

Posted on December 22, 2019 by Rosalind C Hughes

On the night before Jesus died, his closest friend denied three times that he even knew the man. In the nights before Jesus was born, Joseph dreamed. Would we be ready to stake our reputation on the acknowledgement that yes, Jesus is the Son of God; that yes, the way of the Cross, the way of self-giving, selfless, vengeance-denying love is the way to life, liberty, and the pursuit of heaven; that yes, Jesus, born of Mary, is God Incarnate, Emmanuel, God with us? Continue reading →

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Good news, you brood of vipers!

Posted on December 16, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

“If you have two coats, give one to someone who has been left out in the cold,” offers John. It is almost literally the least we could do. Continue reading →

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TLK W GOD

Posted on December 9, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

It is our calling to cry out the goodness of God in Christ; not as a way of advertising our own services, but for the sake of the gospel itself, because we know that life is better with God, that we are comforted by the Sacraments of Christ, and the communion of saints. Continue reading →

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Stand up for Advent

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

Do not become consumed by signs of turmoil. Stand up. Raise your heads. Give voice to the gospel. Expect God. Continue reading →

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When Advent meets Christmas

Posted on December 24, 2017 by Rosalind C Hughes

For Mary, Gabriel has opened a portal, a wormhole, an anomaly through which our history, this moment in which the blessed Incarnation is begun, is fused with eternity. Continue reading →

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Mangled time: a love story

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Rosalind C Hughes

Advent is not the most comforting season of the liturgical year. It itches with anticipation. It scratches at the walls like a prisoner counting out the days. It mangles time, mixing up what has been with what will be, preparing … Continue reading →

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Kamehameha and Emma

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Rosalind C Hughes

These two monarchs are commemorated with the same gospel as we read on Christ the King Sunday, because they modelled their reign on public service, serving as shepherds of their people, and feeding the flocks entrusted to them with justice and mercy, except, it seems, for the occasional accident. Continue reading →

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