23 March.  Susanna. Beauty, like any typical teenager, enjoyed the story from the book of Daniel of Susanna and the randy, lascivious lying judges being caught out.  Susanna, a beautiful woman was quite innocently bathing in her husband’s garden when two old men tried to seduce her and when she refused they falsely accused her, saying they saw her lying with a young man.  The people turned against her until the prophet Daniel, quite a young man, was inspired by God to intervene, and was able to turn the tables in the case and prove the old men guilty.  Even the boys were fascinated by the story and the family discussed how this type of situation is as old as the hills. What is the answer to gender based violence for our generation? How often are “blessers” and people of standing in the community guilty of such abuse and able to get away with it? Women, and men too, march and demonstrate regularly as plans are proposed and interventions presented, such as the “National Strategic Plan on Gender-based Violence and Femicide. 2020-2030.” Very recently gbv was declared a national crisis. It is essential to address the family as a unit, not just support the victims and punish the perpetrator separately.  This is part of the holistic vision of our MARFAM focus and family project. “

JUDGE, reflect and share. Scripture: Susanna would go into her husband’s garden to walk.  The two elders used to see her every day, going in and walking about and they began to desire her. After the men falsely accused her the Lord God aroused the holy spirit of a young lad named Daniel, and he cried with a loud voice, “I am innocent of the blood of this woman.  Are you such fools? Have you condemned a daughter of Israel without examination and without learning the facts? You have borne false witness against her.”  From Daniel 13.  Pope Francis:  The word of God constantly testifies to that sombre dimension already present at the beginning, when, through sin, the relationship of love and purity between man and woman turns into domination.AL19. History is burdened by the excesses of patriarchal cultures that considered women inferior.  AL 54. Pope Leo:  Let us not forget that “doubly poor are those women who endure situations of exclusion, mistreatment and violence, since they are frequently less able to defend their rights. Even so, we constantly witness among them impressive examples of daily heroism in defending and protecting their vulnerable families. The organization of societies worldwide is still far from reflecting clearly that women possess the same dignity and identical rights as men. We say one thing with our words, but our decisions and reality tell another story,” DT 12.   

 The Little Flowers of St Francis:  In his Rule Francis forbade his brothers to visit the sisters in their convent.  However the special close friendship between Francis and Clare was treasured by them both.  “Yet again and again they restrained themselves and refrained from seeing each other although they shared inspiring occasions of deep communion.” 

REFLECT, SHARE, ACT, PRAY.  Discuss with others in families and groups, how can human life and relationships be valued and treated with greater mutual respect?  

SACBC STATEMENT DECEMBER 2025 Appeal to Governments and SADC: Make the Family the Foundation of Policy

The Justice and Peace Commission calls on the governments of South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini, and on SADC, to strengthen all national and regional responses by placing families at the centre. “Our national and regional responses to gender-based violence are incomplete,” the statement reads. “They do not speak clearly enough about the family as the foundation of society.”

The SACBC Justice and Peace Commission calls for the strengthening of the family as a core pillar of national legislation and strategic plans, and for the integration of family renewal into the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. A family-centred approach, the Commission stresses, must support both the girl-child and the boy-child, and must address “absent fathers, wounded masculinity, substance abuse, and weakened parenting” as major drivers of violence.