Sermons on Milton Cunningham:

The Sign Of The Cross Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 19, 2011

We make the sign of the cross in our worship to show the embrace of the Blessed Trinity around our persons and our community.

Monday of 12th Week in Course June 20, 2011 the Spirit of the Liturgy Abraham, first called Abram, is named as our father in faith in the Roman Canon. What that means as we look back on him from the perspective of Jesus is that he offered himself as a gift to God more than he offered his sheep ...read more

Scripture: Genesis 12:1-9

Denomination: Catholic

Kneeling As The Children Of The Father Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 25, 2011

Kneeling in worship of the God who abased Himself for our benefit is a physical way of signing our desire that our wills be in conformity with God's will.

June 27, 2011 St. Cyril of Alexandria The Spirit of the Liturgy What do we owe to God? What gift should we give Him? Before considering that question, we should ask about God’s nature and actions. The Scriptures today tell us much about this God we worship. First, before injustice and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 8:18-22

Denomination: Catholic

I Can't Speak--But I Can Hear You!

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jun 26, 2011

The birth of John the Baptist gives us a clear sign of his message--Christ must increase; we must decrease.

Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist June 24, 2011 There are only two birthday celebrations of men in the liturgical year. A line through them cuts the year exactly in half. Today, around the summer solstice, we celebrate the birth of John, who was the precursor of his cousin, Jesus, whose ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:57-80

Denomination: Catholic

Kneeling In Awe Before The Lord Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jul 2, 2011

We kneel in worship as Stephen did, in union with the prayer of Jesus in the garden.

Independence Day July 4, 2011 Spirit of the Liturgy The intersection of American Independence Day, these texts, and our continuing study of the Spirit of the Liturgy is providential, I believe. Our Scripture today, as every day, is directed to all humans, not just Americans. Our psalm reminds us ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:31-46

Denomination: Catholic

Worship According To God's Will Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 18, 2010

We must worship God as he wishes, not as we wish.

Monday of 25th week in Course 20 Sept 2010 The Spirit of the Liturgy Try as we might, we cannot ever find Jesus “cutting a deal,” or negotiating the Truth. He seemed always to be spoiling for a confrontation with Sadducees–the crooks who ran worship–or Pharisees, or ...read more

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:27-28

Denomination: Catholic

Three Aspects Of Godly Living Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 26, 2010

Worship, ethics and law may not come loose from each other, or man is devalued.

Feast of St. Vincent de Paul The Spirit of the Liturgy 27 September 2010 How many of us, faced with the loss of all our property, and even all our children, would immediately fall to the ground and worship? Fall to the ground, certainly; but worship? Job does not sound like anyone I know. But ...read more

Scripture: Luke 9:46-48

Denomination: Catholic

Put Not Your Trust In Princes Or Political Parties Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 2, 2010

God does not call us to take political power, but to witness to the Gospel of truth, goodness and beauty, and to keep together our worship, law and ethics.

27th Sunday in Course October 2, 2010 Sacred Liturgy Series Last Sunday, a number of evangelical pastors mounted the pulpit and endorsed candidates running in the current elections. By doing so, they thumbed their noses at the Internal Revenue Service’s rulings against 501-c-3 ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

Worship On God's Terms Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 2, 2010

Cult is part of culture, even materialistic culture; our cult must be conducted as God wishes.

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi October 4, 2010 Spirit of the Liturgy Series By all testimony, including his own, Francis was a self-willed man. Even when he heard God’s call, we see over and over again his early actions as those of someone who is making his own way. The Francis of the ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:14-18

Denomination: Catholic

Worship: Cosmic But Rooted In History Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 9, 2010

Worship must be cosmic and rooted in history, more than an act of socialization and focused on the act of becoming images and likenesses of God

Monday of 28th Week in Course Spirit of the Liturgy Columbus Day There are two kinds of spiritual slavery–that horrible condition St. Paul warns against in today’s reading. The first is a slavish obedience to law, the kind of nit-picky legalism that the Pharisees specialized in, and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:29-32

Denomination: Catholic

To Separate And To Draw Together Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 16, 2010

God separated Israel from Egypt to make that people a beacon; in the Church, that beacon is a reality to draw all men and women to true worship in Christ.

Feast of St Luke October 18 2010 Spirit of the Liturgy It is important to our study of the spirit of the Liturgy that, when arriving at a new place, the disciple of Jesus is to give the occupants a liturgical greeting–Shalom aleichem, or “peace to those who dwell here.” The ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:1-9

Denomination: Catholic

Calling The Sheep To Return Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 14, 2010

It is a priority for us to call those who have left the Church to return to fellowship and the sacraments.

Monday of 20th Week in Course August 16, 2010 You Shall Be My Witnesses The people of the Old Covenant were twice exiled from Judea. To this first group, stuck in Babylon, the priest Ezekiel was sent as a prophet. A mime prophet. He acted out in his life the reality of exile, suffering, and ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 19:16-22

Denomination: Catholic

Not As The Pharisees Convert Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 20, 2010

We must be converted daily to the following of Christ, and be sensitive to the signs others demonstrate that they are ready to hear the message and be healed by Christ.

Monday of 21st Week in Course August 23, 2010 Today’s Gospel verses betray the Hebrew original of Matthew–one after another, Hebrew words come tumbling from Jesus’s lips: oi, as in oi vay–woe in English, peroushim, the separate ones we call Pharisees, ben Hinnom, which is ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 23:13-22

Denomination: Catholic

The Excitement Of The Witnesses Of The Risen Christ Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 27, 2010

Just as Mary Magdalene and the disciples, we too must recover our excitement about the Resurrection, so we can share it with others.

30 August 2010 Monday of 22nd week in Course You Will Be My Witnesses When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Denomination: Catholic

Promoting Priestly Vocations Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 5, 2010

We must all pray for vocations to the priesthood and ministry, but we must also invite young persons to consider that vocation, and create an environment that reaches toward the transcendent in our worship.

24th Sunday in Course Supporting the Priestly Vocation What is the most important day of my life, or of yours? The most important day to each of us is the one that will determine the rest of our unending existence. It is the last day of our life. The key question we must answer at that moment ...read more

Scripture: Luke 15:1-32

Denomination: Catholic

Reforming The Reform--Without Whitewash Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 11, 2010

The reform of our liturgy is not a matter of going back to pre-Vatican II forms, but of becoming more faithful to true worship as it has developed over 2000 years

Monday of 23rd Week in Course The Spirit of the Liturgy Sept 6 2010 The stories in chapter 6 of Luke are familiar enough, but we need to understand why the Pharisees were wrong–and not just incorrect, but truly evil. They did not recognize the supreme Good who stood in their midst and ...read more

Scripture: Luke 14:34-40

Denomination: Catholic