Christ is risen. I'm Mother Natalia, a Byzantine Catholic nun from Christ the Bridegroom Monastery, and this is Pines with Aquinas.

Today in the Byzantine Rite, at least those of us who are on the new calendar are celebrating the Sunday of the man born blind.

Which also means that this video is the last one for this year that will start with the intro of Christ has risen because we have the leave taking of

Pasca this week so I won't use that greeting anymore. We'll go back to glory to Jesus Christ. But anyways this this Sunday we celebrate the Sunday of the man born blind which is the gospel passage from from the gospel of John chapter 9 verses 1 through 38 so it's a very long a very long reading

but as I was praying with this

this week, this passage, and also reading some things to supplement that, something

struck me that I've not noticed in this gospel before, which is that this man's

healing from the Lord comes forth seemingly uninvited. Like, Jesus happens across this blind man and the disciples ask Jesus about the man,

why is he blind? Was it his sin sin the sin of his parents?

Jesus is more or less like you're asking the wrong question. It was neither of those,

but then he just spits in some dirt, rubs down the guy's eyes, tells him to go and wash.

The man doesn't say anything in response.

He just goes and washes and is healed.

And I just thought this was interesting

that the man doesn't ask to be healed,

doesn't even approach Jesus.

And yet the Lord must have known, of course the Lord knew, the Lord must have known the

openness of this man's heart, because he didn't argue. St. John Chrysistem says,

observe the mind of the blind man, obedience in everything.

He said not, if it is really the clay or the spittle which gives me eyes,

what need of siloam?

Or if there be need of siloam, what need of the clay?

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