-- 1 John 1:5-7 --

[Weedy]

-- 1 John 1:5-7 --

And this is the declaration which we have heard from him, and declare
unto you: That God is light, and in him there is no darkness.
[6] If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness,
we lie, and do not the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he
also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
[1 John 1:5-7] DRV
================
Just as darkness cannot exist in the presence of light, sin cannot
exist in the presence of a Holy God. If we want to have a relationship
with God, we must put aside our sinful ways of living. To claim that
we belong to him but then go out and live for ourselves is hypocrisy.
Christ will expose and judge such deceit.

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August 28th - Life of St. Moses the Black

One of the more exciting of the early monks in the period of desert
Christian monasticism was a Black African (Nubian) now honored as St.
Moses the Black. The Lausiac History of Palladius is the main
historical source for his life. There is also an account found in the
"Bibliotheca Sanctorum" by J. W. Sauget, and approximately 49
apophthegmata found in "The Desert Christian" by Sr. Benedicta Ward.
The life of Moses is well documented.

He had been a slave of a government official in Egypt who discharged
him for theft and suspected murder. He became the leader of a gang of
bandits who roamed the Nile Valley and had the reputation for being
associated with terror and violence.

Moses was a large and imposing figure; he became rather notorious for
his escapades. On one occasion, a barking sheep dog prevented Moses
from executing a planned robbery, so he swore vengeance on the owner.
Carrying out his threat, he approached the hut of his victim from the
opposite side of the Nile and, placing his weapons between his teeth,
swam the river. The owner of the dog heard the approach, so he hid
along the riverbank, thus escaping disaster. Moses, not finding the
shepherd, took four rams from the flock, towed them back across the
river, flayed them, sold the skins for wine, cooked the best parts,
and feasted before walking back 50 miles to his camp.

On one occasion, when he sought to hide from local authorities, he
took shelter with some monks in a monastic colony in Skete in the
western desert near Alexandria. The dedication of their lives and
their peace and contentment seem to have influenced him deeply.
Eventually, he gave up his old way of life and became a monk himself.

The conversion of Moses was not instantaneous, he had a rather
difficult time adjusting to regular monastic discipline. His flair for
adventure remained with him. Once, while living in a small cell, he
was attacked by four robbers. Much to their surprise, Moses fought and
overpowered them, tied them together and dragged them to the chapel
where the other monks were praying. He dumped the crew in front of the
other monks and exclaimed that he did not think it "Christian" to hurt
the intruders. He asked what he should do with them. According to
tradition, the overwhelmed robbers repented, were converted, and
themselves became monks under the influence of Moses.

He was zealous of everything he undertook, but became discouraged when
he concluded he was not becoming a perfect monk advanced in all the
degrees of spiritual perfection. Early one morning before dawn, St.
Isadore, abbot of the monastery, took Brother Moses to the roof and
together they watched the first rays of the dawn come over the
horizon. They stayed there until the new day had begun. Then Isidore
said, "Only slowly do the rays of the sun drive away the night and
usher in a new day and, thus, only slowly does one become a perfect
contemplative."

The humble Moses also proved to be effective as a prophetic spiritual
leader. One day the abbot ordered everyone to fast during a particular
week. During that time, some brothers came to visit Moses, and he
cooked a meal for them. Seeing the smoke, the neighboring monks told
the abbot that Moses had broken the command. But knowing his
remarkable way of life, these same monks, when they came to confront
Moses, observed, "You did not keep the commandment of men, but it was
so that you might keep the commandment of God." Some see in this
account, by the way, one of the earliest allusions to the Paschal fast
which developed in the fourth century and later became the Lenten
fast.

In another incident related in the sources, one of the brothers
committed a fault. A council met and Moses was invited, but refused to
attend. Someone came to him to let him know the others were waiting,
at which Moses went to the meeting. He took a leaking jug filled with
water and carried it on his shoulder (another version has him carrying
a basket of sand with a hole in it). When he arrived, the others came
out to meet him asking, "What is this?" Moses replied, "My sins run
out behind me and I do not see them, but today I am coming to judge
the errors of another." Hearing that, they said no more to the erring
brother, but forgave him.

A favorite incident of many is the story of the hospitality of a
certain Arsenius toward a visiting monk. Arsenius received the monk in
absolute silence. Moses, however, greeted the visitor with joy. When
someone asked for an explanation, the answer was in the form of two
visions. One has Arsenius in a boat with Angels in silence, another
saw Moses in the boat with the Angels eating sweetmeats.

Moses became the spiritual leader of a colony of hermits in the desert
near Skete. At some time, he had been ordained a priest — an uncommon
phenomenon at that period for desert monks. When he was 75 years old,
about the year 407, word came that a group of renegades planned to
attack the colony. The brothers wished to defend themselves, but Moses
forbade such action. He told them to retreat rather than take up the
sword. He and seven others stayed on to greet the invaders with open
arms, but all were martyred by the bandits. A modern interpretation
honors St. Moses the Black as an apostle of nonviolence.


Saint Quote:
We must have confidence in God, Who is what He always has been, and we
must not be disheartened because things turn out contrary to us.
-- St. Philip

Bible Quote:
Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
[2 Timothy 2:15] DRV


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Prayer for the help of the Holy Spirit

O God, Send forth your Holy Spirit;
into my heart--that I may perceive,
into my mind--that I may remember,
and into my soul--that I may meditate.
Inspire me to speak with piety,
holiness, tenderness, and mercy.
Teach, guide, and direct my thoughts
and senses from the beginning to the end.
May your grace ever help and correct me,
and may I be strengthened now
with wisdom from on high,
for the sake of your infinite mercy.
--St. Anthony of Padua