What's Lent Got To Do With It？

from St Mark Sermons Hosted by St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church

This sermon, given on the sixth Sunday of Lent, reflects on the Gospel account of Jesus healing the man born blind (John 9). Fr Thomas connects this miracle to the Lenten journey of renewal, noting that Christ came to make all things new, giving not just physical but spiritual sight. A central theme is rejecting "either/or" thinking, illustrated by the disciples' question of who sinned to cause the man's blindness; Jesus redirects them from asking "why" bad things happen to asking "what" God can do through the situation, emphasizing that dwelling on blame traps people, while trusting in God's redemptive purpose frees them. The sermon also highlights obedience through the "ordinary" task the blind man was given — washing in the pool of Siloam — contrasting his unquestioning obedience with the disciples' occasional hesitance and the fearful silence of the man's parents, who missed out on joy because they avoided the "hard thing." The sermon closes with a call to self-examination: to identify what ordinary, possibly difficult step God is asking each person to take, and to trust that obedience sets the stage for God to reveal Himself and work miracles in one's life.