Sermons on Maundy Thursday:

The Request God Never Turns Down Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 4, 2013

We don't have to look at Jesus's promise "Seek and you shall find" like a disappointed kid at Christmas, but with the light of faith. There's at least one prayer we always get a "yes" to.

Thursday of 27th Week in Course Lumen Fidei Today’s Gospel is written for adults, but the problem is that even in old age we tend to read it like an eight-year-old waiting for Christmas. We read “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:5-13

Denomination: Catholic

Sight And Hearing; Faith Knowledge And Love Knowledge

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jan 2, 2014

People need to hear the word of God and to see a vision of His plan in order to nurture both faith and love in their hearts, and to bring Christians together.

Thursday of First Week in Course 2014 Lumen Fidei Everyone who loves the parent loves the child, so we can’t say we love God and avoid loving our neighbor. We are all children of God, so we must love one another. In fact, one of the main reasons we come to hear the word and share the Body ...read more

Scripture: Luke 4:18-22

Denomination: Catholic

The Lure Of "Spiritual Worldliness" Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 11, 2015

Although the Christian life brings conflict, we cannot flee from a personal and committed relationship with God which still commits us to serving others.

Thursday of 2nd Week of Easter 2015 Joy of the Gospel If you have ever wondered why the Season of Easter is the longest one in the liturgical year, consider this: after the Resurrection of our Lord, we are living in an Easter season that will last until the Lord comes again! All our lives are a ...read more

Scripture: Acts 5:27-33

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

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

Discerning A Turning Point In History Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Dec 13, 2014

Christians must discern whether changes in the culture are actually movements of the Spirit, or not.

Thursday of the 3rd Week in Advent 2014 Joy of the Gospel Yesterday we began the second phase of our Advent preparation. We ceased calling on Christ to return in glory, and we began our proximate preparation for the commemoration of the humble birth of the righteous branch who grew up to reign as ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25

Denomination: Catholic

Can We Refuse To See Our Brothers And Sisters? Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jan 3, 2015

We cannot love God if we refuse to work for the betterment and evangelization of the poor.

Thursday after Epiphany 2015 Joy of the Gospel St. John’s letter is pretty stark today: “If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” Our love for our brothers ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Open The Doors Of The Church Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 29, 2014

Jesus enjoins us to do the will of the Father, but learning how to do God's will is a lifelong journey.

Thursday of the 1st Week in Advent Joy of the Gospel When I read this passage from the great prophet of Advent, the Hebrew priest Isaiah, my memory goes back almost ten years to our pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Both the Old and New Testaments contain a recurring theme, one we see most perfectly ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-27

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

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

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

Religious Freedom, Fundamental Human Right Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 9, 2016

Religious freedom is a fundamental human right that is not restricted to the confines of a church.

Thursday in Third Week of Easter 2016 Joy of the Gospel Those of us who are blessed to be in the Catholic church for many decades tend to take for granted our sacramental realities, especially the Blessed Eucharist. I recall reading about a Muslim who, though totally without faith in the ...read more

Scripture: Acts 8:26-40

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