Who are you? What Lenten readings can tell us...

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In the sermon he gave on the morning after H.H. Pope Shenouda's passing, Fr. Domadious Rizk asked us to consider which person from the Lenten readings we are. Each of these nameless people had a life-changing encounter with God's truth.Are we the prodigal son who lived mired in sin, not realizing how beloved we are in our Father's eyes?Are we the Samaritan woman, who was visited by the source of Living Water?Are we the paralyzed man, unable to move towards our own healing?Are we the man born blind--not seeing the glory and grace of our Lord?Lent is coming, and I think it's a good idea to consider this question once again. Which of these four people have you been recently? How can you use that answer to guide your discipline and practice for the next 55 days?

For me, I feel like I have been the paralyzed man for a few months now. I have wanted to serve God fully but felt frozen in time. I have wanted to grow spiritually closer to God, but my constantly spinning mind drags me down. The pool is so close, but "I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up..."Perhaps you have also been waiting for a catalyst, a spark to charge a change. All that's needed is a true desire presented before the throne of God."Do you want to be made well?" our Lord asks because 38 years is a long time to wait for someone else to help us up. It takes a personal desire and conviction to grow, to rise, take up our beds, and walk. Our salvation is our own responsibility. Only we can allow ourselves to be saved.Lord, we answer, we want to be made well.Which person from the Lenten readings are you? Which story fits your life now?

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