Author: Fr. Philip LeMasters

Pastor of St. Luke Orthodox Church in Abilene, Texas, Fr. Philip is also Professor of Religion at McMurry University and a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York, where he holds an appointment as Professor of Christian Ethics. His most recent book is The Forgotten Faith: Ancient Insights for Contemporary Believers from Eastern Christianity (Cascade Books, 2013).

Restoring Our True Unity in God: Homily for the Great Feast of Pentecost in the Orthodox Church

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Acts 2:1-11; John 7:37-52; 8:12           People look for unity in many different places.  By identifying ourselves as fans of athletic teams or members of ethnic groups or political factions, we can gain a sense that we are part of something powerful, substantial, and fulfilling.  That is more appealing than feeling weak, anonymous, and alone in the world.  No wonder, then, that there is so much division between…

Ascending in Holiness with the God-Man: Homily for the Sunday of the After-Feast of the Ascension and Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council in the Orthodox Church

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Acts 20:16-18, 28-36; John 17:1-13              Forty days after His resurrection, our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ ascended in glory into heaven and sat at the right hand of God the Father.  He did so as One Who is fully divine and fully human, One Person with two natures. He ascended with His glorified, resurrected body, which still bore the wounds of His crucifixion.  Our Lord’s Ascension reveals that we, who…

Turn Away from the Darkness and Toward the Light: Homily for the Sunday of the Blind Man in the Orthodox Church

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Acts 16:16-34; John 9:1-38   Christ is Risen!              On this last Sunday of Pascha, we celebrate how the Risen Lord has brought us from the spiritual darkness of sin and death into the brilliant light of His heavenly Kingdom.  Even as Christ restored sight to the man born blind in today’s gospel reading, He has illumined our darkened souls.  That is how He has enabled us to know and experience Him as…

The Joy of the Resurrection Extends Even to Samaritans, Gentiles, and Us: 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 extends to everyone and the entire world. The Church directs our attention during the Paschal season to how some very different people came to share in the life of our Lord, such as the disciple Thomas, the Myrrh-Bearing Women, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and the paralyzed man.  Today we focus on someone who was different from all of…

Wanting to Be Healed Is Not Always Easy: Homily for the Sunday of the Paralytic in the Orthodox Church

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Acts 9:32-42; John 5:1-15 Christ is Risen! On the last two Sundays, the Church called us to focus on how particular people responded to our Lord’s death and resurrection.  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 went to the tomb very early in…