Sermons on Maunday Thursday:

Secularism And The Fight For The Family Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 7, 2015

The information-driven society is one that tries to secularize and pervert the human family into something it can never become.

Thursday of 5th week in Course 2015 Joy of the Gospel Jesus has such a sense of humor that some commentators have mistaken it for cruelty. Of course, Jesus never sinned, so thinking this comment about throwing the bread to the dogs is a real insult is wrongheaded thinking. In reality, Jesus was ...read more

Scripture: Mark 7:24-30

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

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

Homilies And The Joy Of The Gospel Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 11, 2015

"The homily takes up once more the dialogue which the Lord has already established with his people. "

Thursday of 15th week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel Today we see Moses, who you remember fled from Egypt after killing an Egyptian oppressor, being called by God to go and preach to Pharaoh. The message: let all your slaves go into the desert. Let them abandon their jobs for a week or two, ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 3:13-20

Denomination: Catholic

Sharing The Father's Embrace In Preaching Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 26, 2015

The two sources of the scribe versed in the kingdom of God are Moses and Jesus

Thursday of 17th week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel “Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” We need to see the revolutionary idea in this short and familiar quotation of Jesus. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:47-53

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

God's Plan Is Best Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 18, 2015

Like the eunuch from Ethiopia, we must be open to God's plan in Christ.

Thursday of 3rd Week of Easter 2015 Joy of the Gospel The Father was surely drawing this Ethiopian to Jesus, and–not by luck–deacon Phillip was on the same road as the African’s chariot. The eunuch had been in Jerusalem to pray and study, so he was either a Jew or an admirer of ...read more

Scripture: Acts 8:26-40

Denomination: Catholic

Fraternal Charity, The Antidote To Wars Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 25, 2015

We must follow the law of fraternal charity if we are to eliminate conflict in the Church and world.

Thursday of the 4th Week of Easter 2015 Joy of the Gospel One of the insights that modern scholarship has given us about the life of Jesus is a deeper understanding of His relationship with the betrayer, Judas. The Gospels record that Judas was their treasurer, and that he was a thief. But ...read more

Scripture: John 13:16-20

Denomination: Catholic

The Problem With Religion That Looks Good Series

Contributed by Jim Butcher on Feb 18, 2010

This message looks at the problems that come with living your life to impress others.

A LIFE GOAL: Live your life so that people will say good things at your funeral. - The Pharisees were doing things for an audience of people. - Key phrase is v. 5a – “done for men to see” - Three examples: a. Phylacteries and tassels. - These were things talked about in OT ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:5-7

Denomination: Baptist

Apostolic Succession, Persecution, And Joy Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 24, 2014

Thanks to the Church's magisterium, we know what Jesus taught, and we can rejoice, even amid persecution.

Thursday of the 6th Week of Easter EF: Ascension Day; OF: Easter Weekday Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives us one of those rare and precious bits of information that helps us to date the journeys of Paul and his letters. And it does so in one of the most important of his ...read more

Scripture: John 16:16-20

Denomination: Catholic

Your Mission To Your Family Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 7, 2014

We are sent to be a gift, a blessing, to every human being we encounter, especially in our family.

Thursday of the 10th Week in Course 2014 Lumen Fidei One of the beautiful things we lost with the new liturgical calendar is the Octave of Pentecost. Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, the day when evangelization of the nations began in earnest and in the Holy Spirit, so it deserves to be ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:20-26

Denomination: Catholic

God Does Want Humans To Be One In Mind And Heart Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 13, 2014

Faith gives us a heightened respect for nature so that we "discern in it a grammar written by the hand of God." God's Fatherhood makes it possible for us to live together with one heart and one will.

Thursday of the 11th Week in Course 2014 Lumen Fidei Where did we get the idea that God is our Father? Surely the definitive statement of God’s fatherhood is in this prayer we learned from Jesus, the Son. Still, we didn’t fully know what a father is until Jesus came and established ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:7-15

Denomination: Catholic

Mission And Suffering Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 29, 2014

We must not marvel that we suffer pain and persecution when we carry the message of Christ to our culture.

Thursday of the 14th Week in Course Lumen Fidei Pop singers and bands engage in a ritual–they all do. There’s a warmup act, usually a second or third rate band. It’s their Introit and Gloria, except the praise is of the human act to follow. There’s audience ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:8-14

Denomination: Catholic