“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”
Psalm 13

A man stole two sheep and thought he could seal the theft with holy words.

He walked toward the monastery with perjury already formed in his mouth. He believed that if he spoke boldly enough before the relics, heaven would remain silent.

This is how sin matures. Not in ignorance, but in presumption.

He did not merely lie. He invoked God as witness to his lie.

We imagine that oaths make us strong. In truth they expose our pride. The man who swears lightly believes he commands reality. The fathers say it is better not to swear at all. Even truth becomes dangerous when uttered without trembling.

Kyriakos feared losing two sheep more than losing his soul.

And so the mercy of God came to him as blows.

We recoil at the severity. But what is more severe. A body struck in the night or a conscience hardened forever.

The vision stripped him of speech. That is the beginning of repentance. The tongue that dared to manipulate God fell silent before Him.

And then we are told something equally sharp.

Another man swore not to forgive.

He placed hatred beneath the Cross and called it fidelity.

How often do we do the same. We baptize resentment with pious language. We defend our implacability as righteousness. We call stubbornness integrity.

The elder smiled because he saw the absurdity. To swear by Christ in order to disobey Christ is madness.

Repentance broke the oath. Mercy broke pride. Reconciliation restored life.

Then the mothers and fathers speak of something quieter but just as deadly.

Calumny.

We think murder requires blood. The desert says it begins with a whisper.

To listen to slander is already to participate in it. The ear becomes the accomplice of the tongue. The heart is kneaded with yeast that does not belong to it.

St Synkletike says some people feed on this. It is recreation. We leave prayer and feed on stories about others. We speak of faults not to heal but to taste superiority.

When we do this, prayer rots.

The face of our brother becomes distorted. We no longer see an icon. We see an accusation.

The fathers tell us to become as one who hears not.

This is harder than speaking. Silence requires humility. It requires the refusal to be entertained by another’s fall.

The man who guards his tongue guards his soul.

The man who refuses to swear lightly refuses to command God.

The man who will not receive a vain report protects Paradise at the gate of his ear.

We want refined spirituality. The desert gives us something simpler.

Fear God.
Guard your mouth.
Refuse the whisper.
Break the oath of hatred.

And if you have dared to lie before Him, fall silent quickly.

Better a bruised pride than a hardened heart.

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Text of chat during the group:

00:01:44 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 360, Hypothesis 48, A

00:10:52 Anna Lalonde: Hey Fr Charbel! I signed up for Saturday and I haven't gotten any emails so don't have time or zoom link.

00:11:34 Anna Lalonde: Yes I checked junk mail

00:14:56 kristy: I found it the way it was thank you!

00:16:39 Joan Chakonas: I just search under philokalia ministeries and it pops up everytime

00:17:09 Anna Lalonde: robertandannalalonde@gmail.comh

00:17:38 Bob Čihák, AZ: P 360, Hypothesis 48, A

00:22:25 Anna Lalonde: The emails from "Fr. Charbel Abernethy" are going to my Gmail "Promotions" box not my "Inbox" so I miss them. The emails from "Father Charbel" for weekly meetings come in my inbox.

00:35:07 Anthony: Kriakos must have been very serious to be carried by an ass, clip-clop what I presume are rough roads in his condition. I was hoping for a different ending.

00:40:28 John ‘Jack’: I was told years ago during confession that “thoughts are not sins” that never set well with me, what are your thoughts on this ?

00:42:46 John ‘Jack’: Reacted to "I was told years ago…" with 👍

00:47:11 John ‘Jack’: Replying to "I was told years ago…"
Admittedly that was back in my more scrupulous/pious days

00:52:04 John Burmeister: provocation

00:52:22 John Burmeister: 2. momentary disturbance

00:53:54 John Burmeister: 3. communion, 4 assent, 5 prepossession, 6 passion

00:58:17 Forrest: Canon law 1196 says that a pastor (and bishops and the Pope) can dispense from private vows for a just cause provided that a dispensation does not injure a right acquired by others.

01:00:27 Anna Lalonde: What level of thought is a sin? How can we actually know when we sin from our thoughts?

01:01:45 Anthony: I read or heard that delight is an indication of sin

01:01:54 Anthony: Delight in the evil

01:03:45 John ‘Jack’: The snakes head!

01:04:18 Robert Iaropoli: Where does delusion play into the thoughts? Some ideas sound good and you dont realize your a captive too its to late?

01:04:18 John Burmeister: communion is when man becomes morally responsible for having allowed to be thought, assent is when you resovle to act

01:12:04 Angela Bellamy: I see this through the television. People love to discuss the violence and evil as entertainment. It's as though there is no understanding.

01:12:22 Joan Chakonas: Sounds like doomscrolling on x

01:13:11 Myles Davidson: Replying to "Sounds like doomscro..."

I was just thinking that first paragraph describes much of social media

01:13:35 Joan Chakonas: Reacted to "I was just thinking …" with 👌

01:15:12 Anthony: Is there a different standard for public figures, or for something like "I wouldn't go to that place" or "I wouldn't give to that organization" or "I don't think such a figure is being honest with the public " I definitely get the danger to our imagination. But we are people who live in a dangerous and manipulating society.

01:17:07 Jason Fischer NY: I do not watch the "news". I find it is not news.

01:20:14 Maureen Cunningham: Jer. Ch 7 v 28

01:20:48 Jason Fischer NY: … and I believe it separates us from God.

01:21:47 Danny Moulton (Lakeside, Ohio): It supplements the earlier reading. Let our yes be yes and our no be no.... but most often let our "I don't know" be "I don't know"

01:22:09 Robert Iaropoli: Reacted to "It supplements the..." with 👍

01:23:30 Joan Chakonas: Reacted to "… and I believe it s…" with ❤️

01:24:03 Joan Chakonas: Reacted to "It supplements the e…" with 👌

01:24:16 Joan Chakonas: Reacted to "I do not watch the "…" with ❤️

01:25:41 Angela Bellamy: It's hard to take that stance for habit of self protection.

01:28:25 Angela Bellamy: I love how you said that because that's it right there, the love of Jesus is for us all. 😊

01:29:17 Maureen Cunningham: Thank You Blessings

01:29:39 Andrew Adams: Thanks be to God! Thank you, Father!

01:29:41 Rebecca Thérèse: Thank you☺️

01:29:42 Bob Čihák, AZ: Bless you, Father!!

01:30:03 Robert Iaropoli: Thank you Father