Latest Mcmurry Podcast Episodes
We Must Learn to Mourn and Rejoice with the Widow of Nain
Eastern Christian Insights - November 07, 2023 18:50 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsI 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 ha...
The Patient Obedience of Letting Down our Nets
Eastern Christian Insights - September 25, 2023 19:26 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsLooking 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 obed...
Taking Up the Cross is Very Different from Trying to Use the Cross to Get What We Want
Eastern Christian Insights - September 18, 2023 19:43 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsIn 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 salvati...
Good Tenants of the Lord’s Vineyard Do Not Hoard the Fruit for Themselves
Eastern Christian Insights - September 04, 2023 18:42 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsBy 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 eve...
“With God All Things Are Possible” for Those Who Take Up the Struggle
Eastern Christian Insights - August 28, 2023 13:37 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsSt. 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 thei...
It Takes Humility to Forgive as We Have Been Forgiven
Eastern Christian Insights - August 21, 2023 21:46 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsIf we dare to call upon God’s forgiveness for our sins, we will condemn only ourselves as hypocrites when we refuse to forgive others.
Transfiguration in Holiness Through Faith, Prayer, and Fasting
Eastern Christian Insights - August 14, 2023 22:01 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsToday 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)
To Behold the Glory of the Lord, We Must Be Transfigured in Holiness
Eastern Christian Insights - August 07, 2023 22:18 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsWe 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...
We Must Live Eucharistically in Order to “Give Them Something to Eat”
Eastern Christian Insights - July 31, 2023 14:26 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsBy 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.
How We See and Speak Reveals the True State of our Souls
Eastern Christian Insights - July 24, 2023 16:38 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsLike 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.
Becoming “All Flame” Through the God-Man
Eastern Christian Insights - July 17, 2023 21:17 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsThere 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...
The Shocking Response of Christ to the Humble Faith of the Centurion
Eastern Christian Insights - July 10, 2023 21:09 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsThough 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)
Fishers of Men
Eastern Christian Insights - June 26, 2023 15:12 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsHomilies from St. Luke Orthodox Church in Abilene, Texas
Becoming Receptive to the Light of Christ Through Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving
Eastern Christian Insights - June 19, 2023 14:57 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsThe 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.
To Become Holy Is to be Healed
Eastern Christian Insights - June 12, 2023 22:31 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsEveryone 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.
Becoming Persons in Communion with God and One Another by the Holy Spirit
Eastern Christian Insights - June 05, 2023 20:09 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsToday 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.
The Joy of the Resurrection Overcomes All Human Divisions
Eastern Christian Insights - May 15, 2023 21:08 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsChrist 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.
Obedience to the Risen Lord Overcomes the Paralysis of our Souls
Eastern Christian Insights - May 08, 2023 22:09 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsThe 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 obv...
Entering into the Joy of the Resurrection Through Selfless Service, not Self-Centered Calculation
Eastern Christian Insights - May 01, 2023 20:53 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsThe 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.
Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!
Eastern Christian Insights - April 24, 2023 18:48 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsIn 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.
The Mystery of Self-Emptying Divine Love Beyond our Comprehension
Eastern Christian Insights - April 10, 2023 16:56 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsHoly 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.
Taking Up Our Crosses Takes Time
Eastern Christian Insights - April 03, 2023 16:33 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsLike 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.
Growing in Prayer, Fasting, and Brutally Honest Faith This Lent
Eastern Christian Insights - March 27, 2023 17:42 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsThrough 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.
We Will Either Take Up Our Crosses or Commit Idolatry
Eastern Christian Insights - March 20, 2023 16:57 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsIf 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.
Lent is About Nothing Less Than Knowing God from the Depths of our Hearts
Eastern Christian Insights - March 13, 2023 18:17 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsLent 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.
Seeing Heaven Opened as Living Icons of Christ
Eastern Christian Insights - March 06, 2023 19:22 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsThe 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.”
Lent is the Journey Back to Paradise Through the New Adam
Eastern Christian Insights - February 27, 2023 23:14 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsMay 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.
Every Encounter with a Neighbor Reveals the Truth About Our Souls
Eastern Christian Insights - February 20, 2023 18:50 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsHow we treat the hungry and thirsty, the stranger and the naked, the sick and the prisoner, manifests whether we serve a Kingdom not of this world in which the last shall be first or whether we have become conformed to corruption.
Refuse to be Distracted from Seeing Yourself Clearly in Lent
Eastern Christian Insights - February 06, 2023 23:55 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsNow is the time to prepare for a spiritually beneficial Lent that will help us grow in the humility necessary to see ourselves and our neighbors clearly as we reorient our lives toward the great joy of Pascha.
Repenting Like Zacchaeus
Eastern Christian Insights - January 23, 2023 22:45 ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsZacchaeus provides a wonderful example of repentance because he spontaneously and freely united himself to Christ as he took practical steps beyond any measure of justice.
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