Lent gives us the opportunity and encouragement to follow the way of Jesus into a particular kind of rest and experience of God’s presence.
This year we are entering Lent after learning that President Jimmy Carter, at 98 our longest-living former president, has entered hospice care. Bishop Hughes reflects on the example he has set of living one's faith out loud as an unabashed Christian and urges us to consider what this would look like for each of us.
In her sermon Saturday morning at the 149th Convention, Bishop Hughes talks about ways we can work together to be God's church in a changed world. (Time: 36:48.)
In her Friday evening address to the 149th Annual Convention, Bishop Hughes talks about three things God has been doing the last three years: Christ, collaboration, and courage. We've learned to experience Christ in new ways. We've learned to collaborate instead of working alone. And we have been, and continue to be, courageous. (Time: 24:07.)
As we approach Diocesan Convention, Bishop Hughes talks about the Strategic Visioning process launched last fall – what's happened so far and what's next, including the Visioning team's Convention presentation. (Time: 4:02.)
It truly is a gift to be a member of the family of faith, says Bishop Hughes. We grow more deeply in our faith, and our faith expands because of the people that we work with on this faith journey. And likewise, parishes need each other, as we've learned during the pandemic. That is why our upcoming Convention will focus on seeking together the vision of God for our particular church at this particular time. (Time: 3:31.)
This piece appeared in the Star-Ledger on December 25, 2022 (paywall).
The celebration of Christmas has the potential to change the world. On the other hand, it can also be a crushing disappointment.
"Every Sunday when I go to church, one of the first things I say as I open the service is, what a joy it is to be together face to face," says Bishop Hughes, reflecting on the past two-plus years when COVID made gathering difficult or impossible. This Advent is especially joyful because our gatherings are starting be restored. And so, she urges us to cherish the gift of relationships, and spend some time discerning how to take care of them going forward.
Discernment, says Bishop Hughes, is not just for people considering ordination or churches calling their next priest. It is the responsibility of all faithful people to ask themselves, and their community, “How is God trying to lead me into the thing that God has prepared me for in this life?" (Time: 4:02.)
Bishop Hughes returns to the topic of her last vlog post, beginning anew, and addresses two ways we can approach it: as a diocese, which we will do together through our strategic visioning and planning process; and as individuals, discerning what it is God has created us for and striving to mature in our faith and spiritual life. (Time: 5:00.)
