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).

Homily for the Sunday of the Paralytic in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
             Christ is Risen!             On this fourth Sunday of the season of Pascha, we remember Jesus Christ’s healing of the paralytic, the paralyzed man who had not been able to move for 38 years, probably his entire life.  He had seen others healed miraculously in a nearby pool of water, but he had no one to help him get there when the angel stirred the water.…

Homily for the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
Christ is Risen!             We have now been celebrating our Lord’s victory over death for two weeks.  We will continue to do so for a few more weeks, saying “Christ is Risen” many times.  But we can’t let our celebration of Pascha stop there. For we want to live the new life that the Lord has brought to the world; we want to participate in His victory over sin, death, and all…

Homily for Thomas Sunday in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
John 20: 19-31 Acts 5: 12-20 Christ is Risen!           We have only begun our celebration of Pascha, of our Lord’s victory over death in His glorious resurrection on the third day.   Perhaps one of the reasons that Pascha is a season of forty days is that it takes us a good while to let the good news sink in.  For not only is Christ raised from the dead, we are too. â€¦

Homily for Palm Sunday in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
Philippians 4:4-9 John 12:1-18             Human beings are blessed with the ability to focus on what is most important. So much of what we do at work or school, for example, requires that we tune out distractions and give our minds to the task before us.             St. Paul reminds us that we especially need to do so in the Christian life by giving our minds to what is true, noble, just,…

There is Hope for Power-Hungry Disciples, a Prostitute, and Us: Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church

· Fr. Philip LeMasters
Hebrews 9:11-14 Mark 10:32-45            The tragic events of the last week both in Boston and in West have reminded us all of the brokenness, pain, and corruption of life in the world as we know it.  God did not create humanity for terrorist bombings, industrial explosions, fear, mourning, and suffering, but to participate in the peace, joy, and holiness of the heavenly Kingdom even as we live…