Sermons on Maunday Thursday:

Just Another Thanksgiving

Contributed by Jerry Mckee on Dec 16, 2008

Our holiday experiences have become a routine just like Israel’s feast and festivals. God has come to hate these celebrations because of our lack of true remembrance.

I. What’s giving Thanks all about A. The pilgrims did it 1. In 1621, the pilgrims celebrated the first harvest at Plymouth 2. To them, it was a religious holiday celebrating all that God gave them The Pilgrim Proclamation of 1623 Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 1:10-15

Denomination: *other

Tolerance--No; Forbearance--Yes Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 5, 2015

We must go well beyond tolerance if we are to become the best version of ourselves, and always witnessing to the truth.

Thursday of 23rd week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel About ten years ago I asked Abp Gomez to visit my religion class and talk about priestly vocations to my boys. He kindly did so and started out with a pointed question: why are you a Catholic? It swelled my heart to hear one of the class ...read more

Scripture: Luke 6:27-38

Denomination: Catholic

The Way Of Beauty Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 19, 2015

There can be no tension between devoting ourselves to love of God and love of neighbor.

Thursday of 25th week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel There is a very old argument in the Church that contrasts what we owe to God with what we owe to our neighbor. These days, it goes like this: we don’t need ornate churches with lots of stone and pipeorgans and marble altars and Italian ...read more

Scripture: Haggai 1:1-8

Denomination: Catholic

Judging Sinful Actions As We Accompany The Fellow Sinner Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 3, 2015

Someone good at accompanying others will not give in to frustration or fear

Thursday of 27th week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel “The day that God will take action.” These words of the prophet Malachi are not about just any day. They distinguish from every other day the time called “the day of the Lord.” That’s the last day, the day of ...read more

Scripture: Malachi 3:13-20

Denomination: Catholic

Building The Kingdom Community Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 17, 2015

The fire that Jesus longs to cast on the earth is the Holy Spirit building a community of hope.

Thursday of 29th week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel Those who are or were enslaved to sin, as Paul teaches, were liberated from righteousness, but it did them no good. When we have a habit of sin–whether it is pride or sloth or envy or lust or anything else–we really can’t do ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:49-53

Denomination: Catholic

A Challenge To Action Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 31, 2015

The Church has a responsibility in justice to help the poor.

Thursday of 31st week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel We call this month of November the month of the poor souls in Purgatory, and are rightly encouraged to pray for them. Not much is known from Scripture about what I call the state of washing up before entering the presence of God. When I ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 26:10-11

Denomination: Catholic

Stewardship, Solidarity And Wages Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 7, 2015

A just social system must come from the conversion of many minds and hearts.

Thursday of 32nd week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel What is the kingdom of God? Is it imposed from outside ourselves? Jesus is very clear on this point. The various sects and political parties in Palestine during the first century thought that the reign of God would be imposed, especially ...read more

Scripture: Luke 17:20-25

Denomination: Catholic

Ministry To The Young And Our Evangelical Mission Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 16, 2015

In our quest to be One Church, we must show forth Goodness, Beauty, and Truth, especially to the young.

Thursday of the 7th Week of Easter 2015 Joy of the Gospel It would not be disrespectful of St. Paul to point out that, even among his great works, he made some monumental personal blunders in his ministry. Last week we heard him trying to preach to the Athenians on a philosophical level. It fell ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Cultural Diversity And The Spread Of The Gospel Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 6, 2015

The Holy Spirit drives us to bring all cultures into an appreciation and acceptance of the faith.

Thursday of 10th week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel Just imagine if from your earliest days you were called by the name “son/daughter of encouragement”? Wouldn’t you just naturally become a very positive person? That was the destiny of our apostle, today. Bar-Nabas, which ...read more

Scripture: Acts 11:21-26

Denomination: Catholic

The Nitty-Gritty Of Personal Evangelization Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 20, 2015

Person to person evangelizing can take many forms, but it is the responsibility of all.

Thursday of 12th week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel I have a motto in my lab. It’s a kind of universal directive that the students, I hope, learn by heart: Do what I say, and nobody gets hurt. If you have a good memory for movies, you’ll see that the motto is a loose paraphrase ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-29

Denomination: Catholic

Take The Risk And Grow Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 27, 2016

Take the risk; take the challenge; take the grace and grow.

Thursday of 21st Week in Course St. Paul’s words to Corinth today are like a commentary on the Gospel. Simon and the boys have been fishing all night, casting and pulling, casting and pulling. All they got was garbage. But at the word of Jesus, they put out into deep water–not the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 5:1-11

Denomination: Catholic

The Gospel And The Court Of Herod Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 17, 2016

Nothing is right until we meet and allow ourselves to be transformed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thursday of the 24th Week in Course 2016 Joy of the Gospel Most of us have forgotten the scariest moment of our lives. It was about the age of two. Up to then everybody was so attentive to the little one’s needs that each of us, to the extent that we were thinking at all, had a fundamental ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:7-9

Denomination: Catholic

The Social Dimension Of Evangelism Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 21, 2016

"the service of charity is also a constituent element of the Church’s mission and an indispensable expression of her very being."

Thursday of the 29th Week in Course 2016 Joy of the Gospel Why did Herod and the Pharisees hate Jesus so much that they endeavored to kill Him, and not only once? And why ultimately did Jesus lay this curse on Jerusalem, or, rather, turn their curse on themselves, so that in 67 AD the Jews ...read more

Scripture: Luke 13:31-35

Denomination: Catholic

Gather Up All Things In Christ Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 28, 2016

We generate history, not by politics and war, but by service to the poor and helpless.

Thursday of the 30th Week in Course 2016 Joy of the Gospel Every time we turn a page in the New Testament, we are–if we are sensitive–struck by how counter-intuitive the Christian message is. Consider St. Paul’s life. He was, by his own account, a super-Jew. He observed every ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:3-8

Denomination: Catholic

Preparing For The Coming Of Christ Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 5, 2016

An authentic faith – which is never comfortable or completely personal – always involves a deep desire to change the world

Thursday of the 31st Week in Course 2016 Joy of the Gospel We stand now very close to the conclusion of our liturgical year, our holy year of grace and mercy that concludes on the Feast of Christ the King. I’m doubly blessed because I get to celebrate Christ the King Sunday twice. In the ...read more

Scripture: Philemon 1:7-20

Denomination: Catholic