Pints With Aquinas - RADICAL Obedience of Faith | Mthr Natalia

Episode Date: May 5, 2024

Mother Natalia talks about today's Gospel the story of the Man Born Blind. She talks about the uninvited healing, and his obedience to the commands of Christ. 🟣 Join Us on Locals (before we get banned on YT): https://mattfradd.locals.com/ 🎧 Mother's Podcast: https://whatgodisnot.com/ 🖥️ Website: https://pintswithaquinas.com/ 🟢 Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/pintswithaquinas 👕 Merch: https://shop.pintswithaquinas.com 🚫 FREE 21 Day Detox From Porn Course: https://www.strive21.com/matt 🔵 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattfradd 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattfradd We get a small kick back from affiliate links

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 is risen because we have the leave-taking of Pascha 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 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, 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 it on 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 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 Chrysostom says, "'Observe the mind of the blind man, obedient 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? Why did he anoint me? Why bid me wash? But he entertained no such thoughts. He held himself prepared for one thing only, to obey in all things him who gave the command,

and nothing that was done offended him." And I just thought that this was, yeah, just something beautiful to sit with of the man's openness and the fact that the Lord came to him in his openness and knew his belief, knew his faith. John Cashin talks about the need for faith.

So he says, he says, in some cases, he, the Lord, so richly poured forth the mighty work of healing that the evangelist was led to exclaim, he healed all their sick. But among others, the unfathomable depth of Christ's goodness was so thwarted that it was said, and Jesus could do no, Jesus could do their no mighty works because of their unbelief. So the bounty of God is actually curtailed temporarily according to the receptivity of our faith. So the Lord saw the receptivity, he knew that was there,

and he knew he could enter into that and provide healing. Because he doesn't force himself upon us. If we don't want his healing, he doesn't give it to us. So this led me to kind of wonder, are there other times in the Gospels when Jesus heals without prompting? And a lot of people who know the Gospels better than I do could answer that question, I'm sure. But as I was thinking of it, I thought, well, maybe the demoniac, Legion, the man possessed by Legion,

who he didn't technically ask to be healed, but even in that case, he threw himself in front of the Lord. But there was definitely one example I thought of in which this act of mercy came seemingly without the one needing healing being the one to initiate. And this is the case of the widow in the seventh chapter of Luke, who's lost her only son. Her son has died and she's grieving. And as the Lord walks by, he sees the depth of her grieving and it says, when the Lord saw her,

he had compassion on her and said to her, do not weep. Then he raises her son. on her and said to her, do not weep, then he raises her son. But I realized in both of these cases, and in any cases in which it seems like the Lord is not initiating, sorry, it seems like we're not initiating. We're not, which I'll get to that in a second, but also there is something of a prayer there, some crying out for the Lord, even if it's interior.

So we don't read that the blind man in John 9 asked the Lord for healing, but I'm sure the Lord saw that desire in his heart. And similarly, this widow in Luke 7 is a good reminder to us that our weeping is a prayer. Our grieving is a prayer. If we open that grief to the Lord, He desires to enter into that.

He desires to enter into that. He desires to comfort us. And I realized this is very much what happened in my own reversion because when I came back to the church, I wasn't seeking out the church. At least I didn't think I was. I just kind of stumbled back into the church because I had a crush on a guy, which often when I tell my reversion story, there's some sweet pious old lady who, when I say

I had a crush on a guy, she's like, you mean Jesus? And I'm like, his name was Kelly. But anyways, the Lord approached me and drew me to himself, drew me back into the church, through, I thought, no prompting of my own. But really, I had such a deep thirst and such a deep ache and such a deep longing that I know the Lord saw that and entered into that.

But even when we think we're the ones initiating, when we think we're the ones seeking the Lord, when we think we're the one asking for the healing, I think it's important for us to remember that he's always the one initiating, he's always the one drawing us, even though it can seem otherwise. A good example of this is the story of Zacchaeus. So in Luke 19, we read that he sought to see

who Jesus was, right? He climbs up the tree, he wants to see Jesus. It seems like Zacchaeus is the one initiating here. But it was something that he thirsted for in the Lord that drew him up the tree to begin with, right? The Lord had awakened this desire in his heart. So even when we're reaching out to Jesus and asking for his healing, asking for his mercy,

like diving into relationship, even that is our response to this desire that he has awakened in us. to this desire that He has awakened in us. Because then Jesus says, And then we read that Zacchaeus made haste and came down and received him joyfully. So I think that this, I don't know, this whole initiation and response thing is,

I think can be very complex, but I do know that, I don't want it to sound like I'm saying that nothing comes from us because that would be heresy. The Lord certainly needs our receptivity in order to act, our cooperation. I just want to point out that he's the one who opens us to begin with. Because Pelagianism would say, which is a heresy, would say we don't need grace, we can do it all on our own. Semi-Pelagianism would say, okay, we do need grace, but we can grasp at that grace. We can reach out and take it for ourselves. And neither of those are true. The Lord opens us up to grace. And when we cooperate, when we agree to that, he fills us with it.

So I think it's helpful to reflect on the ways in which we fail to respond when Jesus is initiating. Like what if Zacchaeus hadn't climbed the tree? What if he had pushed down that desire? What if he had thought it's silly for a grown man to climb a tree? What if he hadn't come down when Jesus spoke to him? What if he had come down, but he hadn't responded with haste and joyful receptivity?

And as you reflect on this, I would encourage you, I don't want that reflection to be a place of shame. Like this isn't, the point of this isn't to just feel like a failure for all of the ways that we don't respond well to the Lord's invitation, his initiation, but to see it as a challenge, as an adventure, my spiritual father years ago asked me to consider in what ways is your vocation an adventure? And I think this is just the Christian life is such an adventure, right? Because there are these constant opportunities to grow, to enter more fully into relationship.

I remember this is something I really loved when I was on the swim team, was just that there were so many ways to improve your time. It's like, well, you know, for this time, I'm gonna just focus on my stroke, for this time I'm gonna just focus on my flip turns and so on and so forth. Anyways, to see these small places

in which you're not responding well as opportunities for growth in relationship with him, because those failures don't have to be an obstacle in relationship with the Lord. Like if we allow Jesus to enter into them, to heal and purify, He wants to change our mourning into joy. He wants to help us to respond better, not to shame us for the times we haven't responded well. You know, I really think if Zacchaeus hadn't climbed the tree,

I don't think that means the Lord wouldn't have approached him. So anyways, I would encourage you to pray with that. Ask the Lord for the grace to help you respond better to his invitations and I will do the same. In the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of this day, for the gift of this opportunity to share with others

the fruit of my time with you, with your son, with your spirit. I ask that you grant those who are listening to this the graces they need to open their hearts to encounter with your son. Help them to be aware of the ways in which they are not responding with haste and with joy to his invitations. And I ask that you give me the grace to be aware of those failures in my own life.

Allow the awareness of those failures to be not a cause of despair, but a cause of hope and encouragement and a desire to love you better, to enter more deeply into a spousal relationship with your son. I ask all of this through the prayers of Saint Nathaniel, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint John Cashion, Luke, St. John the Evangelist, the Most Holy Theotokos and all the saints through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God have mercy on us. Amen. In the name of the

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.