Sermons on Maundy Thursday Reflections:

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

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

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

The Value Of Interreligious Dialogue Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 1, 2016

"Evangelization and interreligious dialogue, far from being opposed, mutually support and nourish one another."

Thursday in Second Week of Easter 2016 Joy of the Gospel Today we hear the story of Peter’s witness before the Sanhedrin in the months following the first Pentecost. To the authorities who had forbade preaching about Jesus, Peter reminds them that the Law of God goes before any human law. ...read more

Scripture: Acts 5:27-33

Denomination: Catholic

Work And Pray Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 23, 2016

To be effective at evangelization, we must be firmly rooted in prayer and adoration.

Thursday in Fifth Week of Easter 2016 Joy of the Gospel Early in St. Paul’s ministry in Anatolia, his success in planting new congregations of Christians inspired others to do missionary work outside the more traditional areas of Judea and the adjoining provinces. But something else was ...read more

Scripture: Acts 15:7-21

Denomination: Catholic

The Need For Contemplation Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 30, 2016

Our mission to others must be underlaid with a foundation of personal devotion to Jesus Christ.

Thursday in 6th Week of Easter 2016 Joy of the Gospel St. Paul’s relationship with the church at Corinth was long, fruitful, and fraught with problems. But it is Corinth that gives us testimony of the historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles. “Before AD 50, an area 62 feet ...read more

Scripture: Acts 18:1-8

Denomination: Catholic

Fulfilling Our Commitments As Evangelization Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 14, 2016

Doing what we should do can bring us joy, but we must still do it even if it leaves us dry.

Thursday in Pentecost Week 2016 Joy of the Gospel There are still some pundits and preachers out in the hinterland who insist that Jesus was just a great man, a great philosopher of love, that fire and brimstone have no place in religion, and that everyone goes to heaven. I suppose they ripped ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:41-50

Denomination: Catholic

Changing Hearts, Changing Worlds Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 11, 2016

The Holy Spirit knows well what is needed in every time and place.

Thursday of 11th Week in Course There’s a contrast between our two prophets–Jesus and Elijah–in today’s Scriptures. Elijah’s missionary method was pretty direct. When Israel defected from worshiping the true God, he called down a three-year drought. When he won ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 6:7-15

Denomination: Catholic

Pray For Us Preachers Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 3, 2016

The homily is the touchstone for judging a pastor’s closeness and ability to communicate to his people.

Thursday of 13th Week in Course Today Jesus’s words are about preaching and service. They are directed to us, to the clergy leaders of the Church, primarily, but really to all Christians. Saint Francis lived out this vocation–he took with him on his journeys almost nothing. He ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:7-15

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 Analogy Of Faith Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 31, 2012

New insights into the meaning of the Scriptures must always conform to the full faith of the Church, preached always and everywhere by everyone.

Monday of Holy Week 2012 Verbum Domini As we begin the most sacred week of our Church’s year of grace, we can again give thanks for the happy coincidence of today’s Word of God with the themes of the Holy Father’s exhortation, The Word of the Lord. Today the prophet Isaiah ...read more

Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-7

Denomination: Catholic

Catch Fire With The Gospel Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 18, 2014

We can do our part to set our parish on fire with devotion to the joy of the Gospel

Thursday of 29th Week in Course Joy of the Gospel St. Paul had during his Christian life on earth at least one experience that he characterized as being lifted up to the heavens. He needed that consolation because of the hard work of evangelization he was called to perform. He saw the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:49-53

Denomination: Catholic

The Missionary Aspiration: Reaching Everyone

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 25, 2014

The Church must aspire to a necessary conversion so that our method and message is appealing to those who are in a sinful lifestyle, to return to Christ, convert themselves and be healed and reconciled.

Thursday of the 30th Week in Course Joy of the Gospel My wife was privileged to be the confirmation sponsor for a young lady this year, and her instruction to the girl was centered around this concluding passage from the letter of St. Paul to the church at Ephesus: “take the whole armor of ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20

Denomination: Catholic

A New Evangelical Explosion Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 1, 2014

The Pope calls for a missionary conversion of the whole Church, especially the papacy.

Thursday of the 31st Sunday in Course 2014 Joy of the Gospel The most pronounced conflict in the early Church was not a conflict with the Romans. Except for the persecution of the madman Nero, and a minor tiff with Claudius, the Church was pretty well left alone until close to the end of the ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 3:3-8

Denomination: Catholic

Useless Or Useful? Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 8, 2014

Mercy is the greatest of the virtues in the external manifestation.

Thursday of the 32nd Week in Course Joy of the Gospel St. Paul had a dilemma. One of his converts in Asia, Philemon, lived in Colossae. Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, had escaped and probably stolen property in the process. Escaped slaves were dealt with according to their owner’s whim ...read more

Scripture: Philemon 1:7-20

Denomination: Catholic