Dear Rev. Know it all;

My husband and I have two completely different questions. My husband has given up changing his socks for Lent. I was looking at the calendar and realized that if Lent is forty days, it ends a week before Easter. If Lent goes until the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday, which is really the first Mass of Easter, then it is forty six days. My hope is that my beloved can change his socks for Palm Sunday. Then there is my second question. I was reading in Hebrews, chapter 11 verse 23, and then in Acts chapter 7 verse 20 that Moses' parents saved his life because he was "beautiful." What is the original word? And what does this mean linguistically, and theologically speaking. According to Stephen's account, his parents originally let him live, but then after a few months they followed through with "exposing" him, though he was ultimately rescued by Pharaoh's daughter. Does Moses’ predicament have anything at all to do with my husband’s socks?

Please help,

Mel and Colleen Dane

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dane,

There is in fact a connection. What the infant Moses was, your husband’s socks, by now are not! First let me deal with the Lenten question. It is really quite simple. A few weeks ago I made the point that for the Catholic, every Friday is Good Friday and every Sunday is the Resurrection.  Traditionally, we do not fast on Sundays. There are 46 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. Of these, six are Sundays. Remove the six non-fasting Sundays and , voila! You have forty days in imitation of Christ’s forty day fast in the desert. This upsets the purists. The Bible implies that Jesus didn’t take Sundays off. If, having given up brussels sprouts for Lent, I am allowed to eat them on Sunday, what kind of fast is that?  I would like to refer you to my article “What about Fasting?” from Feb. 22, 2009.  Fasting is about obedience, not about heroics. Still, it is a free country. If you want to refrain from Brussel sprouts or whatever until after the Easter Vigil Mass you are more than welcome to do so.

Now on to your second question; What does the Bible mean when it says that Moses was  beautiful in his parents’ eyes?  The Hebrew Bible simply says that Moses’ mother saw that he was good. This was the same word used in the first chapter of Genesis when we read that “God saw that it was good....”  Referring to five of the six days of creation.  However, the Greek word used in the Letter to the Hebrews and the Book of Acts to describe the infant Moses doesn’t come from the Hebrew version of the Bible. Most Jews in the Greco-Roman world probably weren’t that literate in Hebrew. They used the Septuagint, which was the Greek translation of the Bible made in Egypt about three hundred years before Jesus. It was this version of Bible that the first Christians used and considered inspired.  In the Septuagint, the Holy Spirit takes the word “good” referring to Moses and makes it something more. The word is “asteios” in Greek and it is a very specific kind of beauty. “Asteios” means charming, urbane, exceptional, even graceful. It comes from the word “astu” which means “city.” Ancient Athenians, not the humblest people in the world, called Athens the “astu,” the “town.” Everywhere else was Podunk , but Athens was the “astu,” the “Big Apple.” It was civilized. Moses’ parents saw that he was exceptional, not just cute. Admittedly, they put him in the river, but not head first! They gave God the opportunity to save him.  Pharaoh had commanded that the Hebrew babies be thrown into the Nile River. He made no mention of baskets. This reminds us of Noah. The word for ark and for basket in Hebrew is “tebah.” It’s exactly the same word. God put Noah in an ark and Moses’ parents put him in an ark. In Genesis 6 verse 8 we read that Noah found grace in God’s sight. In effect, he, too, was “asteios” civilized, charming.  That, then, is the point. There is a kind of beauty which is holy. In the modern world we’re happy with a cheap painting in an expensive frame. We have fifty dollar haircuts on  50 cent heads. We look for cute, God looks for beauty. Christ’s beauty is described in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, chapter 5, verse 22, “The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, humility, and self-control.”  Leaves exist to feed the tree. Fruit is the tree directed outward. It makes more trees and in the process feeds those who eat the fruit. The fruit of God’s presence in a person is directed outward. Even self control is directed outward. Self control means that I don’t indulge in things like road rage or hissy fits. Even joy is directed outward. The way ancient Greeks said hello was literally the command, “Rejoice!”  The Greek word for kindness is particularly interesting. It really means usefulness. Have you ever met some great Christian who knows the intricacies of theology but hasn’t a clue how to clean a dish or vacuum a floor.  The best definition I have ever heard for a gentleman, or for that matter a lady, is that they are people who make other people feel comfortable. The Christian is a gentleman. If we have the Presence of God, the Holy Spirit in us, we are a walking advertisement for the Christian life.  

Apparently Moses at three months had these qualities. He was the kind of baby who lit up the room, as contrasted with the sort of baby who you want to throw in the river. We are all born original sinners, but with God’s grace we can grow out of it. If God is really living in us, we grow in real beauty. Laughter and kindness are integral to the Christian. Jesus tells us to wash our faces when we are fasting. Even our Lenten penance should be joyful and never a burden to those around us. If you have a sour and argumentative spirit, it isn’t the Holy Spirit. So then, about your husband’s socks. Perhaps he would do better to change them occasionally. There is nothing civilized or beautiful about them as near the Holy Days. Might I suggest you throw him in the river, feet first! 

Yours truly,  

the Rev. Know it all.