Sermons on Thursday:

Stewards Of Children And Creation Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jan 16, 2016

The Church cannot be expected to change position on the evil of murder.

Thursday of Second Week in Course 2016 Joy of the Gospel The readings today remind me of the cynical epigram: No good deed goes unpunished. David was the champion of Israel, defeating the Philistines time after time. Still, king Saul, who was probably suffering from a long-lasting clinical ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

The Joy Of The Gospel And Pursuit Of Peace Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jan 23, 2016

The word of God helps us to pursue true peace.

Thursday of Third Week in Course 2016–St Thomas Aquinas Joy of the Gospel God made a promise to King David because of his faithfulness to worship of Him. David had succeeded to the leadership of all twelve tribes of Israel some time before this. He was secure from his enemies–for the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:18-29

Denomination: Catholic

Re-Creating The Effective Pastoral Minister Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 6, 2015

It is important that those involved in pastoral ministry be focused on their goal, not on their comfort.

Thursday of the third Week in Lent Joy of the Gospel Jesus shares with us today an unforgettable phrase: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” The image this summons up is of a shepherd and His flock. Jesus came to gather together the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:14-23

Denomination: Catholic

The Path Of Dialogue Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 27, 2016

To evangelize society, we must encourage leaders to promote the common good.

Thursday of Third Week in Lent 2016 Joy of the Gospel We weak humans need continual reminders that things are not all rosy, that we are living in the midst of a struggle against the forces of evil. Yes, Christ has triumphed in the universal, but He still battles for individual souls with the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:14-23

Denomination: Catholic

The Day Between

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 26, 2016

The Church meditates on the resting of Christ in the grave on Holy Saturday.

Homily for Holy Saturday 2016 Our celebration of Tenebrae today puts us back into the second day, the day after Jesus’s death, Jesus’s one sacrifice on the Day that Changed the World. It is a day of reflection. The tabernacle in this chapel is empty. The Blessed Sacrament has been ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 16:1-10

Denomination: Catholic

"This Is The Day"

Contributed by Gerald Roberts on Mar 27, 2016

This is the day we celebrate the Lord has made!

Psalm 118:24 “This Is the Day the Lord has made” 1. Today’s text is a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance from the enemies of David. • The King offers a song of thanksgiving for deliverance and victory in battle. The King says, ...read more

Scripture: Psalm 118:24

Denomination: Methodist

Building And Hoping In The House Built On Rock Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 28, 2013

we need knowledge, we need truth, because without these we cannot stand firm, we cannot move forward.

Thursday of the First Week of Advent 2013 Lumen Fidei We need a strong city, with gates open to all who have faith, gates of righteousness through which we may enter, praising the Lord. To accomplish this, the most important task of life, we need to do more than stand in church saying, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-27

Denomination: Catholic

The True Elastic Thinker

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 30, 2018

Our Lord spent His life teaching us to abandon our scripted behavior, our pursuit of pleasure for its own sake, our yearning for honor from others, for control over others.

Good Friday 2018 Scripted or Elastic When returning home yesterday from our Holy Thursday Liturgy, the first act in this awesome drama of the Triduum, I heard a discussion with an author about the need to develop our innate ability to do “elastic thinking.” The idea is that the world is changing ...read more

Scripture: John 19:25-30

Denomination: Catholic

Communion Amid Disagreement Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 24, 2017

"This principle, drawn from the Gospel, reminds us that Christ has made all things one in himself: heaven and earth, God and man, time and eternity, flesh and spirit, person and society. "

Thursday after Ash Wednesday 2017 Joy of the Gospel On this first full day of Lent after Ash Wednesday, the Lord sets before us a clear choice: Shall we choose life and goodness, or death and evil. There are no nuances here, no shades of gray. We either opt and live for God’s will, or we are His ...read more

Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Denomination: Catholic

Conquering Contrary Inclinations Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 1, 2016

"through such respectful and compassionate listening can we enter on the paths of true growth "

Thursday of the 26th Week in Course 2016 Joy of the Gospel We know how to give good gifts to our children. So does our Father. After all, He has given us existence, life, forgiveness. He did not shrink from offering up His only Son, Jesus Christ, for our salvation. And as a last gift, He gives the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:5-13

Denomination: Catholic

Attitudes Of Change And The Word Of God Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 15, 2016

The Word of God can be unifying, but it can also divide, so we need to ask God what attitudes we must change and for the grace to make that change.

Thursday of the 28th Week in Course 2016 Joy of the Gospel The beautiful prayer that St. Paul gives us in his letter to the Ephesians is our first reading today, but it seems to contrast with the words of Jesus we find in the Gospel. Paul is asking us to allow Christ to dwell in our hearts through ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 3:14-21

Denomination: Catholic

No Purse, No Bag, No Sandals Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 30, 2017

The reformers of every age have pointed to the words of Jesus to His first disciples: “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road,” as a call to poverty.

Thursday of 26th Week in Course 2017 Reformation and Revolution The rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem, which the prophet Haggai had commanded, was accompanied by a rebuilding of Jewish identity and worship in the community of returned exiles. We must never forget that God does not act ...read more

Scripture: Luke 10:1-12

Denomination: Catholic

The Scene Is Set For Revolution And Reformation Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 21, 2017

God writes straight with crooked lines, in every age.

Thursday of 29th Week in Course 2017 Reformation and Revolution Let’s imagine for a moment what happened when St. Paul and his companions came to a town in Anatolia or Greece, his two assigned missionary territories. There were probably Jews there, who met in someone’s home or maybe, if the ...read more

Scripture: Luke 12:49-53

Denomination: Catholic

Indulgences: Grace Or Scandal? Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 28, 2017

When pious Germans dropped money in Tetzel’s collection plate, they were doing so out of love, or maybe fear, but they were intending to do good.

Thursday of 30th Week in Course All souls day We shall all die, but what then? That is perhaps the key question of human existence. As Christians, we believe that the Father did not abandon us to the effects of original sin, and He does not leave us writhing in our personal sin. Instead, He, with ...read more

Scripture: John 11:17-27

Denomination: Catholic

Epicurus And Christ Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 11, 2017

Renaissance atheists ate, drank and were merry and ignored God’s teaching, because they thought of the Christian God as just another non-existent being who wanted to keep them from enjoying themselves.

Thursday of the 32nd Week in Course Reformation/Revolution The Pharisees were religious leaders in Israel at the time of Christ, and, like all pious Jews, they believed that God would send a Messiah to inaugurate the Kingdom of God. But most Jews thought that the kingdom would be brought by force, ...read more

Scripture: Luke 17:20-25

Denomination: Catholic