Tag Archives: nativity

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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Halfway

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

On the sixth day, halfway through Christmas, with the wholesomeness of God’s love lying in a manger and the heartlessness of Herod running riot in the streets; with God’s Incarnate One being prepared for his first wound, and his mother slowly healing, but her catching her heart in her mouth each time he sighs; on the sixth day, Joseph half-turns back, forgetting to pack up the bread he had picked up before the baby cried, his heart halfway to heaven and his spirit halfway to madness with the wonder of it all. Continue reading →

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Solstice

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Rosalind C Hughes

This poem first appeared at Bearings Online, a publication of the Collegeville Institute, at last year’s winter solstice Solstice At the abyss of the yearthe sun is silent;but in the bleak midwintersomething shiftsA fearful hope, homunculus,wakes the woman: lightbeyond the … Continue reading →

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Bethlehem

Posted on December 28, 2019 by Rosalind C Hughes

In the ancient city, haunted by memories of feast and famine, exile and exodus, the earth itself makes room, Creation shifting and splitting as angels sing Glory out of cold stars shining with old light. Out of the holy darkness, … Continue reading →

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Epiphany wisdom, old and new

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

The picture that we expect to see is not always the one that is painted by God. Continue reading →

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Consider hibernation

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Rosalind C Hughes

a sabbatical of sorts… Continue reading →

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God stands by God’s Word

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Rosalind C Hughes

But as high risk and heavy investment strategies go, the scheduling of those responsible to throw in their lot with the populace bears some comparison to the Incarnation. Continue reading →

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Christmas Eve 2017

Posted on December 25, 2017 by Rosalind C Hughes

As we contemplate the vulnerability of a God who would be born homeless, human, humble, we remember the power of love to change the world. Continue reading →

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Christmas Eve

Posted on December 24, 2016 by Rosalind C Hughes

A message for and from the Church of the Epiphany, Euclid, Ohio There’s something strange about the sign that the shepherds outside Bethlehem received that Christmas night so long ago. After all, if a choir of angels appears above the … Continue reading →

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Second thoughts

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Rosalind C Hughes

Mary did not float through her pregnancy without her swollen feet touching the ground. When Mary returned to her senses, the bread was burning, and she nearly took the skin off her hands snatching it from the fire in a … Continue reading →

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