The Joy of the Resurrection Overcomes All Human Divisions: Homily for the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
Acts 11:19-30; John 4:5-42 Christ is Risen! The good news of our Lord’s resurrection was entirely unexpected and challenges many of our deepest assumptions about life in this world.  If the God-Man has entered fully into death and conquered it, making even the grave an entrance into eternal life, then reality is radically different from what we typically assume.  If death is not an inevitable and complete loss from which we need…

Obedience to the Risen Lord Overcomes the Paralysis of our Souls: Homily for the Sunday of the Paralytic in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
Acts 9:32-42; John 5:1-15 Christ is Risen! During the season of Pascha, the Church calls our attention to how particular people responded to our Lord, Who rose from the dead on the third day. Thomas did not believe until he saw and touched the wounds of the Risen Savior.  Joseph of Arimathea took Christ’s body down from the Cross and, with the help of Nicodemus, buried Him.  The Myrrh-Bearing women became the…

Entering into the Joy of the Resurrection Through Selfless Service, not Self-Centered Calculation: Homily for the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, Pious Joseph of Arimathaea, and Righteous Nicodemus in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
  Acts 6:1-7; Mark 15: 43-16:8            Christ is Risen! As we continue to celebrate our Lord’s glorious resurrection on the third day and victory over Hades and the tomb, it should be obvious that we too often live as though death still reigned.  We do so especially when we fall prey to fear rooted in anxiety about how weak, insignificant, and insubstantial we are, especially in light of death.  We build ourselves…

Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!: Homily for Thomas Sunday in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters 2 Leave a Comment on %s
Acts 5:12-20; John 20:19-31 Christ is Risen!  Indeed, He 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 corruption…

The Mystery of Self-Emptying Divine Love Beyond our Comprehension: Homily for Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters 2 Leave a Comment on %s
     Philippians 4:4-9; St. John 12:1-18           The Desert Father Saint Antony the Great once tested a group of monks by asking them, beginning with the youngest, the meaning of a certain passage of Scripture.  In response to their answers, he said, “You have not understood it.”  Finally, he asked Abba Joseph, who said, “I do not know.”  Then Abba Antony said, “Indeed Abba Joseph has found…