In Sermons: showing 1,216-1,230 of 1,305

Charity, Truth And Health Care Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 9, 2009

Charity in truth demands that we consider two moral criteria: justice and the common good. But truth must inform both.

Monday of 19th Week in Course August 10, 2009 Caritas in Veritate “Die to yourself” is a phrase that is no more popular today than in the first century. Jesus showed the way to this manifestation of charity in truth, by living for others during his earthly existence, and by dying on the cross so ...read more

Scripture: John 12:24-26

Denomination: Catholic

Jesus Exemplifies Charity In Truth Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 2, 2009

Charity in truth is not something we summon up from ourselves; it is a divine gift essential for true human development

Monday of 18th Week in Course Caritas in Veritate The occasion for Jesus’ withdrawal to a “lonely place” was the news that John the Baptist, his relative and mentor, had been murdered by Herod. Jesus was no coward, so we should think that this withdrawal was to achieve some time for His humanity ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 14:13-21

Denomination: Catholic

Truth Liberates Charity Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 25, 2009

Without truth, our charity degenerates into sentimentalism, and can be totally perverted into its opposite.

Monday of 17th week in Course July 27, 2009 Caritas in Veritate (3) Joachim Jeremias taught that the parables about the Church should be read holistically. For instance, Jesus would say, “The kingdom of God is like this situation: you plant the tiniest seed, and without your doing much, it grows ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:31-35

Denomination: Catholic

No Saintly Life Is Tragically Short Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 25, 2009

Many saints’ lives seem "tragically short." Short, perhaps, but not tragic; Jesus’s life was the briefest of all.

Feast of St. James July 25, 2009 In our meditation on the mystery of Christ and Mary today, there is something that occurred to me that I knew wouldn’t survive the drive to church, so I typed it out. Both the Saturday Matins reading and the Mass text today are from 2 Corinthians, which is written ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

The Embodiment Of God's Unremitting Love Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 18, 2009

Jesus’s preaching differed from that of Jonah because Jonah prophesied judgement and vengeance, while Jesus embodied God’s unremitting love.

Monday of 16th Week in Course 20 July 2009 Caritas in Veritate Before continuing a commentary on the papal encyclical Love in Truth, let me spend a moment on this analogy to Jonah. Jesus is saying to these Jewish non-believers, in effect, “Jonah eventually got it, and you guys will never get it.” ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 12:38-42

Denomination: Catholic

Caritas In Veritate Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 11, 2009

The Pope’s new encyclical fits well with the Exodus account of a people oppressed and needing growth and development, but enslaved by a culture of death.

Caritas in Veritate Monday of 15th week in Course July 13, 2009 It is providential, perhaps, that we have in today’s readings all the elements for talking about the role of faith in society. Here we have an oppressed people, enslaved by an unjust system, whose children are being systematically ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 1:8-22

Denomination: Catholic

The Prophet Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 8, 2009

There are prophets in every age speaking for God. In our age Pope Benedict has called us to look at Charity in Truth, and consider our responsibilities to the world economically.

Fifteenth Sunday in Course The Prophet July 12, 2009 All over the temperate zone, fruit from the varieties of fig and sycamore are ripening now, and so the Church gives us a reading from the migrant worker, Amos, the reluctant prophet. I call him a migrant worker because he engaged in seasonal ...read more

Scripture: Amos 7:12-15

Denomination: Catholic

Engaged Participation In Worship Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 4, 2009

We cannot come to worship unprepared. Silent prayer, fasting and confession are recommended.

Monday of Fourteenth Week in Course July 6, 2009 Sacramentum Caritatis The House of God and Gate of Heaven is, fundamentally, Jesus Christ. The woman with the hemorrhage found that out through her experience of the healing touch of His garment. The little girl experienced it through her ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 9:18-26

Denomination: Catholic

Equal In Dignity, Diverse In Function Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 21, 2009

In our worship, we are all equal in dignity, but, as Jesus gave different ministries to his disciples, in and out of worship, we differ in function and service; that is the meaning of hierarchy.

Solemnity of Peter and Paul June 29, 2009 The readings for this solemnity help us to understand how it is that Christ left us–as a gift–a hierarchical Church. I was reading some fairly recent articles in Pastoral Music recently, and came across a rather angry one from a nun who was complaining ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-19

Denomination: Catholic

Word And Eucharist Are One Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 13, 2009

The Gospel proclaims the divine reversal--the weak become strong by grace; thus also Word and Sacrament are the means by which weakness is strengthened.

June 15, 2009 Sacramentum Caritatis Here in the penumbra of the Feast of Corpus Christi, it is particularly helpful to reflect on what many have called “the great reversal.” The Gospel is one frequently quoted to show the power of nonviolent resistence. Go two miles when forced to go one. St. ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Denomination: Catholic

Manifesting The Real Presence

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 9, 2009

The change in the bread and wine is not physically manifest; that means we have to show the change in our lives.

Feast of Corpus Christi 14 June 2009 Urgent and important truths are often expressed in two words: heart attack, new-improved, te amo, you’re fired. The words have impact because they are engaging and brief. They grab our attention and focus it on the reality. They make us aware of some ...read more

Scripture: Mark 14:12-26

Denomination: Catholic

Found Difficult And Not Tried

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 23, 2009

Everything that is important for the growth of God’s kingdom is also difficult.

Tuesday of 7th Week in Easter Time May 26, 2009 The gift of prophecy is a lot like spiritual dynamite. It can be used to build up or to tear down. False prophets abound–think of the damage that has been done by charlatans like Joseph Smith or Jim Jones. St. Paul himself in his earliest writings ...read more

Scripture: Acts 20:17-27

Denomination: Catholic

Singing And Contemplation Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 23, 2009

The point of art, and especially music, is to lead us beyond what we can apprehend at the material level, even to contemplative prayer.

May 25, 2009 Sacramentum Caritatis Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds; his name is the LORD, exult before him! 5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. The anointing of the Holy Spirit is the action of ...read more

Scripture: Acts 19:1-8

Denomination: Catholic

Learn Your Lessons Well

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 17, 2009

The downward movement of God becoming man is mirrored by the upward movement of Christ returning to the Father

Tuesday of 6th week in Easter Acts/John Earthquake! What a terrifying sound that must have been to a first-century Greek. We in South Texas, sitting on this tapioca-karst bed of limestone as we do, far from any real tectonic plate junctions, have no idea what fear the word “earthquake” provokes. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 16:22-34, John 16:5-11, Ephesians 4:7-10

Denomination: Catholic

Spirit Is Alive Through Obedience Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 17, 2009

The Church’s song is two millennia old and is deserving of use and respect

May 18, 2009 Sacramentum Caritatis Acts 16: 11-21 and John 15: 21-27 When we listen to the Gospel of Luke and the Acts, and to the Gospel of John as well, we get the impression that the Holy Spirit was more active in the early Church than today. Paul was forbidden by the Spirit–probably warned by ...read more

Scripture: John 15:21-27

Denomination: Catholic