Best Fr Philip Lemasters Podcasts (2024)

1
The Adoration of the Holy Cross 6:35

3d ago6:35

6:35

We do not have to look very closely at dominant trends in our culture today for signs that many people are offering their lives for the service of false gods, regardless of how they identify themselves religiously. The evidence of their idolatry is not primarily in where they congregate to worship, but in how they seek first the things of this worl…

1
Homily for the First Sunday of Lent (The Sunday of Orthodoxy) 6:31

11d ago6:31

6:31

On this first Sunday of Great Lent, we commemorate the restoration of icons centuries ago in the Byzantine Empire. They were banned due to a misguided fear of idolatry, but restored as a proclamation of how Christ calls us to participate in His salvation in every dimension of our existence.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Homily for the Sunday of the Prodigal Son 10:10

18d ago10:10

10:10

The themes of exile and return are prominent throughout the entire narrative of the Bible. Adam and Eve were cast out of Paradise. The Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt until Moses led them back to the Promised Land. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah went into exile in Assyria and Babylon, respectively, with only Judah returning home. The Jews endured …

1
Homily for the Sunday of Forgiveness in the Orthodox Church 10:02

24d ago10:02

10:02

On the last several Sundays, our gospel readings have challenged us to return home from our self-imposed exile. Zacchaeus gave more than justice required to the poor and those whom he had exploited from his ill-gotten gains, and was restored as a son of Abraham. By her persistence and humility, the Canaanite woman received the deliverance of her da…

1
God Resists the Proud, But Gives Grace to the Humble 9:18

1M ago9:18

9:18

Today we begin the Lenten Triodion, the three-week period of preparation for the spiritual journey that prepares us to follow Christ to His Cross and victory over death at Pascha. The first step in our preparation is to remember that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (Jas. 4:6) Today the Church reminds us of how easy it is to …

1
Holiness Requires Humility and Persistence 9:18

2M ago9:18

9:18

Unless we are very careful, it is easy to fall prey to the temptation of defining holiness in ways that serve our preconceived notions, which may have very little to do with finding the healing of our souls by sharing more fully in the life of the Savior by grace. We often see righteousness through the lens of our own sensibilities about worldly di…

1
If We Do Not Invest Ourselves In the Life of the Kingdom, We Risk Losing Our Souls 8:42

2M ago8:42

8:42

It is easy to overlook how often the Lord used money and possessions to convey a spiritual message. Perhaps that is because almost everyone struggles with being overly attached to material things, for they can meet our basic physical needs and provide comfort and a sense of security. Due to our self-centered desires, however, they so easily become …

1
Offering Ourselves to God and Neighbor like Zacchaeus 9:44

2M ago9:44

9:44

Today we continue to celebrate the Presentation of Christ, forty days after His birth, in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Theotokos and St. Joseph bring the young Savior there in compliance with the Old Testament law, making the offering of a poor family, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the old man S…

1
It Is Only Because of the Light that We Can See the Darkness 10:29

2M ago10:29

10:29

We remain in a period of preparation to behold Christ at His appearing. The One born at Christmas and baptized at Theophany is brought by the Theotokos and St. Joseph the Betrothed to the Temple in Jerusalem as a 40-day old Infant in fulfillment of the Old Testament law, which we will celebrate later this week at the Feast of the Presentation of th…

1
Obedience and Gratitude 9:43

3M ago9:43

9:43

During the season of Christmas, we celebrated the Nativity in the flesh of the Savior. Born as truly one of us, He is the New Adam Who restores and fulfills us as living icons of God. During the season of Theophany, we celebrated the revelation of His divinity as a Person of the Holy Trinity at His baptism, where the voice of the Father identified …

1
Homily for the Sunday Before the Theophany (Epiphany) of Christ in the Orthodox Church 9:27

3M ago9:27

9:27

Today is the Sunday before the Feast of Theophany (or Epiphany), when we celebrate Christ’s baptism in the river Jordan and the revelation that He is truly the Son of God. His divinity is made manifest and openly displayed at His baptism when the voice of the Father declares, “You are my beloved Son” and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in the for…

1
Are We Looking for a Kingdom Not Like the Other Nations? 12:10

3M ago12:10

12:10

As we conclude our preparation for celebrating the Lord’s Nativity, we must resist the temptation to corrupt this blessed season into an excuse for glorifying ourselves in any way. Instead, we must allow our hopes for whatever we want in this life to be called into question by the God-Man, Who was born in such strange circumstances to fulfill a kin…

1
Christ Comes to Free Us All from Our Infirmities 11:10

3M ago11:10

11:10

When Jesus Christ was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, he saw a woman who was bent over and could not straighten up. She had been that way for eighteen years. The Lord said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” When He laid hands on her, she was healed. When the woman stood up straight again, she glorified God. As was often the…

1
Homily for the Sunday of Forefathers (Ancestors) of Christ in the Orthodox Church 11:58

4M ago11:58

11:58

As we welcome Christ into our lives and world at His Nativity, we must remain focused. There is no shortage of distractions this time of year that appeal to our passions and threaten to convince us that there are matters more important than accepting His gracious invitation to enter fully into the joy of the banquet of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Sa…

1
We Must Open Our Eyes to the Light of Christ in Order to Prepare for Christmas 10:18

4M ago10:18

10:18

On the last couple of Sundays, our gospel readings have reminded us what not to do if we want to prepare to welcome Christ into our lives and world at His Nativity. The rich fool was so focused on money and possessions that he completely neglected the state of his soul. The rich young ruler walked away in sadness when it became clear that he loved …

1
Preparing to Welcome Christ with Joy Through Humility 9:23

4M ago9:23

9:23

As we continue to prepare to welcome Christ at His Nativity, we must keep our focus on becoming like those who first received Him with joy. That includes the Theotokos, whose Entrance into the Temple, where she prepared to become His Living Temple, we celebrated last week. That includes unlikely characters like the Persian astrologers or wise men, …

1
Entrusting Ourselves to Christ with Truly Humble Faith 9:26

4M ago9:26

9:26

It is worth asking what we want to achieve by practicing our faith. Why do we come to church, pray, fast, give to the needy, forgive our enemies, confess our sins, and otherwise struggle to reorient our lives toward God? Perhaps we do these things because we want to put God in our debt so that He will do our will. Maybe we want to become socially r…

1
Those Who Have Received Christ’s Merciful Generosity Must “Go and Do Likewise” 9:14

5M ago9:14

9:14

It is terribly tragic when people fall into the delusion of thinking that they love God and neighbor, when in reality they are using religion to serve only themselves and the false gods of this world. One symptom of doing so is to narrow down the list of people who count as our neighbors to the point that we excuse ourselves from serving Christ in …

1
Loving Our Neighbors More than Our Money is Part of Being “A New Creation” 9:16

5M ago9:16

9:16

There is perhaps no more powerful example of our need for Christ’s healing of our souls than that contained in today’s gospel reading. A rich man with the benefit of the great spiritual heritage of Abraham, Moses, and the prophets had become such a slave to gratifying his desires for indulgence in pleasure that he had become completely blind to his…

1
Becoming a Human Person Fully Alive to the Glory of God 10:28

5M ago10:28

10:28

St. Irenaeus wrote that “The glory of God is a man fully alive, and the life of man consists in beholding God” (Adv. haer. 4.20.7).” To be a human person is to bear the image of God with the calling to become more like Him in holiness. The more we do so, the more we become our true selves. The God-Man Jesus Christ came to restore and fulfill us as …

1
Bearing the Good Fruits of Peace for the Living Icons of God 10:59

5M ago10:59

10:59

In the midst of the ongoing tragedy unfolding in the Holy Land, we must attend to the wisdom of our father in Christ, His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch, who stated this week that “Peace does not come from the bodies of children, killed people, innocent people, and women. Peace comes when the decision-makers in this world realize that our pe…

1
We Must Learn to Mourn and Rejoice with the Widow of Nain 10:04

5M ago10:04

10:04

I am sure that many people today reject or have no interest in the Christian faith because they have not seen in others the healing of the human person brought by Jesus Christ. Perhaps they have heard Christians speaking primarily about morality, politics, emotion, or a view of salvation that has nothing to do with the realities of life in the worl…

1
The Patient Obedience of Letting Down our Nets

7M ago

—

Looking to the example of the great saints we commemorate today, as well as to the model of those holy fishermen, let us repudiate the superficial, self-centered tendencies celebrated by our culture and undertake the daily struggle of obedience to Christ. That means letting down our nets in obedience at every opportunity as we cry out for His merci…

1
Taking Up the Cross is Very Different from Trying to Use the Cross to Get What We Want 10:03

7M ago10:03

10:03

In order to take up our crosses, we must choose to embrace the struggle of dying to our vain illusions about ourselves and our world. Our hope is not in spiritual or moral perfection acquired merely by our own willpower, but in the gracious mercy of the One Who offered up Himself for our salvation purely out of love.…

1
Good Tenants of the Lord’s Vineyard Do Not Hoard the Fruit for Themselves 9:23

8M ago9:23

9:23

By faith in Christ, we have become the new tenants of the vineyard with an obligation to “give him the fruits in their seasons.” That, of course, is precisely what the original tenants refused to do. Instead of tending the vineyard and offering its fruit to their rightful owner, they wanted everything for themselves and even killed the son of the o…

1
“With God All Things Are Possible” for Those Who Take Up the Struggle 10:20

8M ago10:20

10:20

St. Basil the Great, who gave away his great wealth to found philanthropic ministries for the sick and needy, taught that the Lord’s strict words to this man revealed his lack of love for his neighbors. Basil wrote that “Those who love their neighbors as themselves possess nothing more than their neighbor; yet surely, you seem to have great possess…

1
It Takes Humility to Forgive as We Have Been Forgiven 9:02

8M ago9:02

9:02

If we dare to call upon God’s forgiveness for our sins, we will condemn only ourselves as hypocrites when we refuse to forgive others.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Transfiguration in Holiness Through Faith, Prayer, and Fasting 9:22

8M ago9:22

9:22

Today we conclude our commemoration of the Lord’s Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, when the spiritual eyes of Peter, James, and John were opened to behold His divine glory and they heard the voice of the Father say, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Mk. 9:7)By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
To Behold the Glory of the Lord, We Must Be Transfigured in Holiness 10:12

9M ago10:12

10:12

We have all had the experience of suddenly perceiving a truth that we had previously not grasped. There are times when the fog lifts, the lights come on, and what was opaque or out of focus becomes clear. That is precisely what the apostles Peter, James, and John experienced on Mount Tabor when they were enabled to behold the divine glory of Jesus …

1
We Must Live Eucharistically in Order to “Give Them Something to Eat” 9:29

9M ago9:29

9:29

By miraculously satisfying so many with so little, Christ revealed what it means for us to live eucharistically as we offer ourselves and our resources for the fulfillment of His gracious purposes for the world and all its inhabitants.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
How We See and Speak Reveals the True State of our Souls 10:03

9M ago10:03

10:03

Like the men in today’s gospel reading, we all need the healing of the Lord for our eyes, our mouths, and every aspect of who we are.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Becoming “All Flame” Through the God-Man 9:18

9M ago9:18

9:18

There is a temptation in pursuing the Christian life to think that we are more faithful than we actually are because we have confused lesser goals for our true calling. Then we can pat ourselves on the back for achieving far less than what the God-Man has made possible for us as “partakers of the divine nature.”…

1
The Shocking Response of Christ to the Humble Faith of the Centurion 8:48

9M ago8:48

8:48

Though it was commonly overlooked at the time, God’s promises to Abraham were for the blessing of all the nations. They have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ such that all with faith in Him are now rightful heirs. (Gen. 22:18; Gal. 3:8-9)By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Fishers of Men 9:05

10M ago9:05

9:05

By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Becoming Receptive to the Light of Christ Through Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving 10:32

10M ago10:32

10:32

The spiritual disciplines of the Apostles Fast provide us all with opportunities to clarify our spiritual vision and gain the strength to see all the blessings of this life as gifts to be offered to God.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
To Become Holy Is to be Healed 9:17

10M ago9:17

9:17

Everyone who shares in the blessed life of the Savior does so through their participation in His grace, not merely as a reward for good behavior.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Becoming Persons in Communion with God and One Another by the Holy Spirit 6:42

11M ago6:42

6:42

Today we celebrate the restoration of our true unity in God through the unifying power of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter sent by the risen and ascended Savior Who is seated at the right hand of the Father in heavenly glory.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
The Joy of the Resurrection Overcomes All Human Divisions 10:34

11M ago10:34

10:34

Christ said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” No one else would have looked at Photini and seen a future saint who would shine with the light of holiness.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Obedience to the Risen Lord Overcomes the Paralysis of our Souls 9:08

12M ago9:08

9:08

The plight of the paralyzed man shows us the common condition of fallen humanity. None of us took the initiative in bringing salvation to the world and this fellow did not ask Christ to help him or even know His name. The Lord graciously reached out to him, nonetheless, asking the seemingly obvious question, “Do you want to be healed?” The Savior’s…

1
Entering into the Joy of the Resurrection Through Selfless Service, not Self-Centered Calculation 9:18

12M ago9:18

9:18

The devotion of the Myrrh-Bearers, Joseph, and Nicodemus shows us what true faith looks like, and it has nothing to do with figuring out how to use God to help us get what we want on our own terms in a pathetic attempt to distract ourselves from the fear of death.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen! 10:14

12M ago10:14

10:14

In order to follow our Risen Lord into the joy of the resurrection, we must open our deepest personal struggles and wounds to Him for healing.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
The Mystery of Self-Emptying Divine Love Beyond our Comprehension 9:50

1y ago9:50

9:50

Holy Week is not a time for rational theological speculation and argument. It is, instead, a time for entering into the deep mystery of the love of our Lord, of the great “I AM” Who remains infinitely beyond our full comprehension.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Taking Up Our Crosses Takes Time 7:53

1y ago7:53

7:53

Like St. Mary of Egypt, let us refuse to let anything keep us from confronting our personal brokenness with brutal honesty as we take up our own crosses in faithfulness to the Savior Who offered up Himself on the Cross for the salvation of the world. He alone is our hope and the Victor over death.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Growing in Prayer, Fasting, and Brutally Honest Faith This Lent 8:25

1y ago8:25

8:25

Through the many struggles of this season of Lent, we all have the opportunity to grow in the faith necessary to entrust ourselves more fully to Christ.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
We Will Either Take Up Our Crosses or Commit Idolatry 7:08

1y ago7:08

7:08

If we refuse to deny ourselves even in small ways this Lent, then we will become even more accustomed to serving ourselves instead of God and neighbor.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Lent is About Nothing Less Than Knowing God from the Depths of our Hearts 7:35

1y ago7:35

7:35

Lent does not call us merely to think or have feelings about our Lord’s Cross and resurrection. This season invites us to grow in our personal knowledge and experience of the Savior Who offered Himself on the Cross and rose in glory on the third day for our salvation.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Seeing Heaven Opened as Living Icons of Christ 6:17

1y ago6:17

6:17

The disciplines of this season give us all countless opportunities to do precisely that as we prepare for nothing less than to “see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

1
Lent is the Journey Back to Paradise Through the New Adam 10:04

1y ago10:04

10:04

May every step of the journey lead us further away from exile and closer to our true home, the Paradise that our Lord has opened to us through His glorious resurrection on the third day.By Fr. Philip LeMasters and Ancient Faith Radio

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