In today’s Gospel, Christ’s disciples ask: Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2).

Christ indicated that neither was the case, his blindness was not a punishment for his sin, nor that of his parents. Rather it was an
opportunity for the works of God to be revealed in his life. Christ opens the man’s eyes, revealing himself as the Son of God. The
man born blind acknowledges him as his Lord and worships him. The liturgical texts put these words into his mouth:

He is in truth Christ the Messiah, of whom Moses wrote in the Law. He is the Saviour of our souls. (Pentecostarion, p.238)

And further, the liturgical texts say of the blind man:

He … received his sight, and the first thing he saw was his Creator who fashioned the human race according to his image and likeness. (Pentecostarion p.258)

In the case of the blind man, Christ also restores his physical sight, but his first desire is to restore our vision of him, the Light of the world. However, God’s plan for restoring our vision, may not always be the one we would choose. The phrase in the Lord’s prayer Thy will be done,
challenges us.

In 2 Corinthians 12 we are told of Saint Paul’s thorn in the flesh, this aspect of his life, whatever it was, which caused him some distress. We may have a similar feeling about some aspect of our life, perhaps thinking: If only it were “fixed”, everything would be ok. When Saint Paul pleaded with the Lord to take away his thorn in the flesh, the Lord responded: My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor 12:9).

Saint Paul himself explained that the thorn in the flesh was given to him, a messenger of Satan, lest he be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations given to him (2 Cor 12:7).

The Lord did not take away his thorn in the flesh, in order that Saint Paul might rely wholly on him, his strength being made perfect in
weakness. Christ says in the sermon on the mount: If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light (Matt 6:22). Restoring our vision, seeing God’s light in our lives, means an ongoing turning to him, in confession, in repentance, in thanksgiving. In so doing, we can truly pray: Thy will be done.

The prayer of Saint Philaret of Moscow speaks of the acceptance of God’s will; I will quote parts of it:

O Lord grant me to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely on your holy will…. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul, and with firm conviction that your will governs all…. Give me the strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day with all that it shall bring. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray within me. 

Much of this prayer might be summed up in the phrase: Thy will be done. But we often prefer to say: My will be done. I want things to work out my way. 

How do we come to see Christ in all things, to truly trust in his holy will? In Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians he says:

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the
peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4: 6-7)

We are to petition God, in thanksgiving, with peace of heart and mind, in the knowledge that the outcome of our prayer is in his hands. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul exhorts:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thess. 5: 16-18)

In everything give thanks. Note that he doesn’t say for everything, but rather in everything. That is live the Eucharist, offering ourselves continually in thanksgiving to God, partaking of him who is the Light of the World, recognising that: His strength is made perfect in weakness, his will governs all things.

Given by Father Richard