Tag Archives: Christmas

Christmas Eve: love you to Bethlehem and back

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is a tradition that the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is a time for miracles. Beatrix Potter, who wrote the Peter Rabbit books, said that, it is in the old story that all the beasts can talk, … Continue reading →

Posted in holy days, homily, sermon | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Healing the holidays homily 2014 edition: holding out on hope

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Rosalind C Hughes

Six months before the Angel Gabriel to earth came down, as the story goes, he was hanging out in Jerusalem, visiting with Zechariah. Zechariah and Elizabeth were much older than Mary – which is not to say that the young … Continue reading →

Posted in homily | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A light reflection for Christmas Day

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

Why do we read John on Christmas morning, instead of one of those cute pageant stories from Matthew or Luke? It is because for John, this is Christmas: that Christ was born before the worlds began, as old as God, … Continue reading →

Posted in holy days, homily | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Year A Advent 4: playing the fool

Posted on December 22, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

You have to wonder how many times Joseph had that dream. I mean, once is good; but after a few days, a weeks, wouldn’t you find yourself wondering all over again what was going on, worrying whether you had been … Continue reading →

Posted in sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blue Christmas 2013

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

There is a scene in the extended poem by W.H. Auden, For the Time Being, that has never left me since I first read it. The language is so visual I can almost see it. Transplanted into contemporary England – … Continue reading →

Posted in homily | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Year A Advent 1

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Rosalind C Hughes

And so the season, the year, begins in the middle – in the middle of the story, in the middle of a field where two men are working, and there then was one; in the mill, where two women are … Continue reading →

Posted in sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 →

Posted in sermon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Christmas haiku

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Christmas Day When we pray to a newborn baby, naked, poor whom angels adore

Posted in image, poetry | Tagged | Leave a comment

Blue Christmas homily

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

I remember one Christmas Eve years ago, when I was a Sunday School teacher trying to wrangle small children dressed as shepherds and herd animals dressed as small children and deal with both kings and wise guys and try not … Continue reading →

Posted in homily, sermon, story | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unexpected gifts: Saint Nicholas

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

A homily for Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland’s Evensong celebration of the Feast of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra As a child, I heard the story of Jesus welcoming the children and he was the antidote to unfriendly adults, the ones who frowned … Continue reading →

Posted in homily | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment