Sermons on Thursday:

Grant Us Godly Politicians Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jan 21, 2017

"I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, the lives of the poor! "

Thursday of Third Week in Course 2017 Joy of the Gospel Ss Timothy and Titus Today’s feast is a challenge to those whose denomination teaches that the Church is not hierarchical. Most of these denominations consider themselves Bible fundamentalists, but today’s readings clearly show that, from the ...read more

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1-8

Denomination: Catholic

Fullness And Limitation, Time And Space Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Feb 18, 2017

we must focus on the efforts we need to make to improve our imaging of Jesus and Mary.

Thursday of Seventh Week in Course Joy of the Gospel We continue in the season which the Extraordinary Form calendar still calls Septuagesima, or the seventy days before Easter. The penitential season of Lent begins on March 1, and we must focus on the efforts we need to make to improve our ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:41-50

Denomination: Catholic

Global And Local: Sharing The Gospel Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 11, 2017

We should constantly ask God to reveal to us those ways in which we may be overlooking the opportunities to be like Christ and Mary in our daily lives.

Thursday of second week in Lent 2017 Joy of the Gospel Many people think that Jesus made up the parables, that He was a kind of novelist. I belong to a school of thought that sees Jesus as one acutely aware of what is going on around him, and who understands as nobody else does what is behind ...read more

Scripture: Luke 16:19-31

Denomination: Catholic

Dialogue With Faithful Judaism Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 19, 2016

We must always remember that the Church's first mission was to the Jews, the brothers and sisters of Jesus.

Thursday in the Octave of Easter Joy of the Gospel As we bask in the warm light of the Resurrection, we hear again the stories of the reaction given by various Jewish groups to the Passion, death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. We do this for another forty days, and actually fifty up until ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:35-48

Denomination: Catholic

Our Responsibility To Non-Believers Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Apr 16, 2016

We Christians need to find more and more effective ways to communicate the Gospel message.

Thursday in Fourth Week of Easter 2016 Joy of the Gospel St. Paul is best known for his three missionary journeys and his journey to Rome. He was the evangelizer paradigm. Nobody did it better than he. His protocol developed early. He believed that his mission was first to his Jewish brothers ...read more

Scripture: Acts 13:13-25

Denomination: Catholic

Spirit-Filled Evangelizers Are Evangelizers Who Pray And Work. Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on May 27, 2017

All that we do must culminate in the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ.

Thursday of 7th Week of Easter 2017 Joy of the Gospel The Gospel passage we just proclaimed is one of those moments we are tempted to take comfort in and not think about. It seems all warm and fuzzy and a little like a group hug: “You in me and I in you and everybody else in us all sweet and ...read more

Denomination: Catholic

New Covenant Of Faith In Christ Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Aug 1, 2014

The final homily in the series: how God solves the REAL problem of society.

Thursday of the 18th Week in Course Lumen Fidei A few years ago, the bishops of the U.S. issued a statement on relations with Jews that, without much thought, referred to the Mosaic covenant with the Jews as enduring forever, or some such language. My friend, E. Michael Jones, responded by ...read more

Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31-34

Denomination: Catholic

Harden Not Your Hearts Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jan 10, 2015

Not to share one's wealth with the poor is stealing from them.

Thursday in the First Week in Course 2015 Joy of the Gospel The two NT readings we have heard today are linked by a single notion expressed in the words “moved with pity.” Jesus looked on this poor leper and, in the Greek, became splagchnistheis. This is something we have all ...read more

Scripture: Mark 1:40-45

Denomination: Catholic

The Quality And Attitude Of Giving Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Jan 24, 2015

Our gift to God must be totally disinterested, and focused on evangelization.

Thursday of the 3rd Week in Course 2014 Joy of the Gospel We receive in the same measure with which we give. That is the way in which our light shines before humankind. That is the way we attract others to the Gospel of Christ, the Gospel of hope, the Gospel of Life. Jesus Christ, in the plan ...read more

Scripture: Mark 4:23-25

Denomination: Catholic

The Integrity Of The Gospel Message Must Not Be Deformed Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Nov 15, 2014

Peace in the world is only possible If we effectively communicate the need to embrace the Gospel of love.

Thursday of 33rd Week in Course 2014 Evangelii Gaudium This last season of the liturgical year has a bittersweet nature. The old year is waning; the new year is still seen in the distance. Days grow short; in northern Europe, the daylight lasts barely five hours. Even here in Texas we are ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 5:1-10

Denomination: Catholic

Breaking Habits Which Make Us Feel Safe Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Dec 6, 2014

The Church must reach out in mission to those who are in need, whatever their stage of spiritual growth or seeking.

Thursday of 2nd Week in Advent Joy of the Gospel Not everything in the Scriptures is easy for us in the 21st century to understand. That is particularly true in our passages from Isaiah and Matthew today. Isaiah is exaggerating for effect. At the coming of the Redeemer, he says, everything ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:11-15

Denomination: Catholic

How Much More Will God Give His Holy Spirit Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Oct 7, 2017

If there is evil in our lives, God has to permit it to happen, or it wouldn’t. But God never wills evil. He only wants our good.

Thursday of 27th Week in Course 2017 Reformation/Revolution Who among us has not looked on some captain of industry or some venal politician and wondered why “evildoers not only prosper but when they put God to the test they escape.’” as the people did in Malachi’s day? Sometimes it does seem vain ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:5-13

Denomination: Catholic

Neither Positivism Nor Scientism Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Mar 5, 2016

There must be a dialogue between science and faith, but it must also be an unequal dialogue; faith trumps the claims of any science that denies God.

Thursday of Fourth Week in Lent 2016 Joy of the Gospel In this fourth week of Lent, the week of Laetare Sunday–Joy Sunday– it is quite appropriate to continue our series on Pope Francis’s encyclical, the Joy of the Gospel. Let’s be clear that joy and enjoyment are not ...read more

Scripture: John 5:31-47

Denomination: Catholic

Build On Rock, Not Sand Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Dec 2, 2017

" pray for our young religious and seminarians, for all of us will be judged on the basis of where we build–on the firm rock of obedience to God, or on shifting sand."

Thursday of the First Week in Lent Reformation & Revolution It is the happy decision of the Church that brings us so much of the prophet Isaiah as we celebrate the time of expectation, the time of Advent. Isaiah was a prophet of hope in a time of social and religious and political upheaval. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 7:21-27

Denomination: Catholic

Education And Service Promote Growth In Faith Series

Contributed by W Pat Cunningham on Sep 12, 2015

Our catechesis must constantly reinforce the truths accepted in the early proclamation of the Gospel of Christ.

Thursday of 24th week in course 2015 Joy of the Gospel Today the Franciscans celebrate the feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis. The few saints who have legitimately borne the marks of Christ’s passion live out in a physical and spiritual way the long hours of Christ’s passion and ...read more

Scripture: Galatians 6:14-18

Denomination: Catholic