Sermons on Lent:

Promote The Good; Proscribe The Evil Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 23, 2013

The call of Christ not to judge, not to condemn, is directed at our relationships with other humans, not evil actions themselves.

Monday of 2nd Week in Lent 2013 Gaudium et Spes Today’s Scriptures are most appropriate as follow-ups to the Gospel of Transfiguration we heard on Sunday. Jesus is seen on Mount Tabor conversing with Moses, the great lawgiver, and Elijah, the greatest prophet. Jesus has always been seen by ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:36-38

Denomination: Catholic

Your Child Will Live Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 9, 2013

Wisdom gently attracts the mind of humans to a quest and a love for what is true and good through the beautiful. The modern mind no less than the ancient mind needs God.

Monday of 4th Week in Lent 2013 Gaudium et Spes Most commentators–even those who wrote in the first millennium–believe that John’s Gospel was the last one written. The historian Eusebius quotes Clement of Alexandria as saying that John, aware of the other three Gospels, wrote a ...read more

Scripture: John 4:43-54

Denomination: Catholic

Faith Seeking Understanding

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 1, 2014

God redeemed the world through suffering, and we can understand, if not fully comprehend, the mystery.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday 2014 Lumen Fidei On this first day after the solemn beginning of Lent, as we begin our forty-day retreat, the Church gives us some stark words. Deuteronomy tells us that the choice is between life and death, between blessing and curse. Honor and obey God alone, and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:22-25

Denomination: Catholic

How Can We Fail To Share That Love Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 6, 2014

Being a Christian is the result of an encounter with Jesus Christ, giving life a new horizon and decisive direction.

Thursday of 23rd Week in Course and Commemoration of 9/11 Today we remember the events of September 11, 2001. That day, called nine-eleven, the whole world changed. In the Muslim world, it was an anniversary of the battle that raised the siege of Vienna, a huge defeat for the Muslim Turks, and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:27-28

Denomination: Catholic

What Leads Us To Believe The Gospel? Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 23, 2012

The Bible is the Church's book, so we must read it in faith and read it as a member of the community of the Church.

Monday of First Week of Lent Verbum Domini There are a whole series of websites on the Internet devoted to trying to debunk the Sacred Scriptures. For instance, with respect to the book of Leviticus, which we read from today, one can find tons of places where the clear natural law prohibition ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46

Denomination: Catholic

Deficiencies That Need Healing By The Gospel Of Joy Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 21, 2015

Both Christian and secular cultures will benefit by understanding the Joy of the Gospel, but the Church must approach different cultures with respect.

Thursday of the First Week in Lent Joy of the Gospel Today we hear from Jesus a restatement of the Golden Rule: “whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.” And this is Torah, this is the prophetic message. We want people to treat ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:7-12

Denomination: Catholic

Evangelizing The Cities Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 28, 2015

Just as post-Resurrection Judaism created a culture that rejected the Gospel, so modern society tries to make people incapable of receiving Christ. But we must bear witness, especially in the cities.

Thursday of the Second Week in Lent Joy of the Gospel Last Sunday we heard Jesus tell his key disciples not to disclose their vision of Him transfigured until He would rise from the dead. There was a good reason for that. The Jewish mindset, which had been formed by prophets like Jeremiah, ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:19-31

Denomination: Catholic

A Feast To Remember: Book Of Esther

Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Aug 29, 2015

An intended genocide against the people of God is thwarted. Behind all the machinations of human deliverers, we see the quiet unassuming hand of providence. Praise the LORD!

A FEAST TO REMEMBER. Esther 7:1-6; Esther 7:9-10; Esther 9:20-22. Esther is a book of feasts. First there was the extravagance of a six-month long drinking feast for the army and the princes of the 127 provinces (Esther 1:3-4). This was immediately followed by a seven day drinking feast for the ...read more

Scripture: Esther 9:20-22, Esther 7:9-10, Esther 7:1-6

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Success Or Failure? Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 20, 2016

We must realize that the whole of God's plan is greater than the part we play in it.

Thursday of Second Week in Lent 2016 Joy of the Gospel Sometimes I think of irony as God’s invention to help us cope with the effects of original sin. Just consider this rich guy, fat and happy, with what he thinks is everything he ever wanted. He dies, and the Douay-Rheims translation ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:19-31

Denomination: Catholic

The Dialogue Of Ecumenism Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 12, 2016

Our prayer is that all Christians be One.

Thursday of Fifth Week in Lent 2016 Joy of the Gospel The providential juxtaposition of St. Patrick’s Day with the readings of this Lenten feria should lead us to make a comparison between the call of St. Patrick and the call of the Hebrew patriarchs. Patrick was called by God to return ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 17:3-9

Denomination: Catholic

Tentación

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Feb 24, 2017

Al comienzo de la Cuaresma

1A Lent Robert Louis Stevenson una vez escribió una historia inolvidable sobre un Dr. Jekyll y un Sr. Hyde. El Dr. Henry Jekyll era respetado en su comunidad como un caballero en todos los aspectos. Sin embargo, el tenía algunos vicios secretos que guardaba cuidadosamente ocultos de la vista ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11, Matthew 2:7-9

Denomination: Catholic

That They All Be One Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 31, 2017

Our witness must be positive–we hold fast to what we know is true, and treat those who don’t share those views with charity and patience.

Thursday of fifth week in Lent 2017 Joy of the Gospel Today we look at the person and commitment of Abraham, whom the Liturgy calls “our father in faith.” Genesis records the fundamental promise that the Jews–and Christians–hold dear. And it’s not the land of Canaan, or Palestine, over which ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 17:3-9

Denomination: Catholic

Godly Anger

Contributed by Paul Andrew on Jan 26, 2018

He poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables.

Lent3B. Today we have by far the most famous story of Jesus’ anger, yet none of the gospel writers mention the word anger in it, they said that he was “consumed with zeal.” I read a story of a little kid filled with a kind of zeal. His dad said: One morning, my wife asked our four-year son, ...read more

Scripture: John 2:13-25

Denomination: Catholic

"My" Pew Or God's Pew?

Contributed by The Rev Deniray Mueller on Mar 9, 2018

how do we welcome strangers in our midst

I wish I could say this is a made-up story, but unfortunately it is not. We recently had a couple visit Saint John’s while looking for a new church home. They were warmly greeted by the ushers and told to sit anywhere they wished. So, they picked a pew about midway up the aisle. The people around ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal

Baptism Is A Gift We Receive Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 4, 2014

God loved us so much that He gave up His only begotten Son, as the blood-price of our justification. You and I first enter that covenant when we, or our parents and godparents, make covenant promises to God at our baptism.

Thursday of 5th Week in Lent 2014 Lumen Fidei The Gospel of John, more than the Synoptics, clearly states what the Church has always and everywhere taught–Jesus is the fleshly manifestation of the same God who made a covenant of love and fidelity with Abraham. Although Israel turned its ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 17:3-9

Denomination: Catholic