August 4. SEE.   Unfaithfulness.  The group quickly started picking up issues themselves that sometimes needed to be teased out. “The front page article in THE CITIZEN newspaper reports on a disgraced politician, charges of corruption as well as various love relationships. Was the disgrace because of the love relationship or the corruption?”  “In our day the different commissions of enquiry are often coming up with a combination, corruption and relationships, including  unfaithfulness to their marriage partner.” “How destructive for themselves and their families are these kinds of business-related relationships that are far too common.  Is breakdown in family life punishment enough for the guilty parties, as adultery is no longer a legal matter?”   

JUDGE. Reflect, share, act. Scripture:   There is no medicine for your wound, no healing, all your lovers have forgotten you. For I have dealt you the blow of an enemy, the punishment of a merciless foe, because your guilt is great, because your sins are flagrant.” Jer 30: 12-15.   Pope Francis:  We treat affective relationships the way we treat material objects and the environment: everything is disposable.   It is easy to confuse genuine freedom with the idea that each individual can act arbitrarily, as if there were no truths, values and principles to provide guidance, and everything were possible and permissible.    The ideal of marriage marked by a commitment to exclusivity and stability is swept aside whenever it proves inconvenient or tiresome. AL39.  Pope Leo. As the first natural society, endowed with foundational rights, the family is the fundamental and irreplaceable cell of every community organization.  Consequently, when political projects and major economic decisions relegate the family to a marginal or secondary role, the authentic growth of the entire social body is compromised.   MH 165.

ACT AND PRAY. For integrity in public life. Pray St Francis Peace Prayer and pray: Mary, Queen Assumed into Heaven, Patroness of South Africa, pray for us.