Seeing our Neighbors and Ourselves in Light of Christ’s Bodily Resurrection: Homily for Thomas Sunday in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
Acts 5:12-20; John 20:19-31 Christ is Risen! Today we continue to celebrate the most fundamental and joyful proclamation of our faith:  Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!  He is our Pascha, our Passover, from death to life, for Hades and the grave could not contain the God-Man Who shares with us His victory over death.  He has illumined even…

Only the One Who Destroys Death Can Bring Peace: Homily for Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
Philippians 4:4-9; John 12:1-18           On this great feast of Palm Sunday, our epistle and gospel readings call us to respond to even our most severe challenges with the peace that passes understanding.  When the Savior raised His friend Lazarus from the tomb after four days and showed that He is the resurrection and the life, corrupt religious leaders concluded that they had to find a way to…

Christ’s Healing Extends Beyond Self-Help or Willpower: Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent and Commemoration of our Righteous Mother Mary of Egypt in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
  Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 10:32-45             As we near the end of our Lenten journey this year, we should have all gained at least a measure of insight into our souls’ need for healing beyond what we can accomplish merely by our own willpower in obeying religious or moral laws.  Our difficulty in taking even small steps to embrace prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and other spiritual disciplines reveals how weak we are before…

Acquiring Honest Faith is Never Easy: Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
Hebrews 6:13-20; Mark 9:17-31             Some people speak of faith as if entrusting our lives to God were as effortless and relaxing as soaking in a warm bath.  If we have pursued prayer, fasting, and almsgiving with integrity this Lent, we will know better than to make such a silly assumption.   The more we have struggled to take even small steps toward the healing of our souls, the more our disordered desires…

The Tree of Life that Leads Us Back to Paradise: Homily for the Third Sunday of Lent and the Veneration of the Cross in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
Hebrews 4:14-5:6; Mark 8:34-9:1              People today look in many different places to find their true identities.  Unfortunately, it is all too easy to define who we really are in terms of our self-centered desires, our current state of personal brokenness, or some worldly project that inflames our passions.  Doing so may make us feel better temporarily, but it ultimately enslaves us even further to the ways of a world held captive…