MARFAM’S FAMILY MATTERS WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER 5 AUGUST 2026

For the full presention of THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY for AUGUST https://marfam.org.za/thoughts-for-the-day-august-2026/

At least three feasts matter to me in a special way this early part of the month of August. The feast of the Transfiguration on 6 August is one of my favourites because I always like to use the words of Peter, on seeing the transfigured Jesus, “Lord it is good for us to be here.” They can be a reflection on our lives, our love for Jesus and also for one another, in good times and in bad. Can we truly say “Lord it is good for us to be here,” about our marriage, our family, our friendships and, especially at this time, on our place as women in our particular and widely varied contexts?   

In SA August is often called Women’s Month, because 9th August is Women’s Day, a public holiday for us since 1994 and commemorating the contribution of women in 1956 by their march on Parliament.  

The Women’s Day Prayer below offers a vision for women,  while the patronal feast of the Assumption, my third special feast,  invites us to make Mary our patron and our model. The SA patronal feast is transferred to the next Sunday because of its importance for recognizing Our Lady as Queen, Assumed into Heaven, as our intercessor.  She has so many titles as mother and queen, but a patroness has its own significance in providing guidance and support. 

PRAYER FOR THE WOMEN OF SOUTHERN  AFRICA 
Almighty God, 
You are father and mother to us, your children. 
We thank you for the particular and special gifts you have given to women,  
the gift of nurturing life, of sustaining and supporting life,   
the qualities of compassion, commitment, generosity and a willingness to share. 
As they progress towards their rightful place in society we request your blessing on all women 
  	that they may continue also to hold their rightful place in the family. 
 	that women and men together may build a society 
  	which will bring about the Kingdom You have promised us. 

We call on Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who nurtured and cared for her son and now reigns with Him in heaven 
to inspire the women of South Africa, 
 	to pray with them in their joys and in their struggles,
 	and to intercede for them with her Son. 
Mary, Queen assumed into heaven, patroness of South Africa, pray for us.
St Francis and St Clare, lovers of peace and support for those who are suffering, pray for us.

We know very well that physically, mentally and emotionally it is not the reality for all women – and not always for each of us -, to be able to feel good about who and where we are, but spiritually and often practically, through our faith, much can be done.  The Church, in many ways, is offering support and encouragement. Sodalities, groups, e.g. for mothers, grandmothers and widows exist and women, more than men, make greater use of such supports. Women’s mental health is being addressed and domestic abuse awareness is being recognized.   It is my belief that maybe we do not recognize both the positives and the contexts enough. Do we pray as a wife, or a widow having lost a spouse, or as a mother or grandmother losing a child or grandchild, or whie rejoicing in their achievements?   Do we pray from our own experience for others in their needs, their joys and sorrows and use our feminine sensitivity in caring for others?       

MARFAM AUGUST THEME: SEXUALITY A FAMILY GIFT. However, the August theme is not just focusing on women but on sexuality more broadly. Do we understand and accept well enough that women and men do not live in isolation, living separate lives from one another even in the same house?  With very few exceptions every family has male and female members of all ages and every individual is a sexual person, interacting and acting in a whole variety of ways, within their family unit and beyond it. To heal brokenness and suffering this more holistic view of who we are needs to be strengthened.   

Sexuality is a great gift from God, not only for reproduction and continuing the life of each ecosystem in nature, of plants, animals and people.  It is a gift for relationships at all levels for women and their special feminine qualities as wife, mother, daughter, sister, work colleague, teacher, and much more. The same of course applies to men and their masculine qualities.   It is unfortunate that in our busy practical everyday lives we easily lose these feminine and masculine attributes and become uni-sex workaholics. 

Pope Francis expressed the value of relationships in Laudato Si 240.  The world, created according to the divine model is a web of relationships.  Creatures tend towards God, and in turn it is proper to every living being to tend towards other things, so that throughout the universe we can find any number of constant and secretly interwoven relationships.  This leads us to marvel at the manifold connections existing among creatures, but also to discover a key to our own fulfillment.  The human person grows more, matures more and is sanctified more to the extent that he or she enters into relationships, going out from themselves to live in communion with God, with others and with all creatures.  In this way, they make their own that trinitarian dynamism which God imprinted in them when they were created.  Everything is interconnected, and this invites us to develop a spirituality of that global solidarity which flows from the mystery of the Trinity. LS 240.

Pope Leo loves to refer to sons and daughters – a family term – but the intimacy of committed couples and of specific family relationships is even deeper. So many men and women have spoken about being brought up by their grandmothers. It is true that for some strange reason we often hurt the most those we love the most.  Why is sexual abuse of women and children most common within families or by those known to them?

The photo image here is from the Church of the Assumption and from the village of Blessed Benedict Daswa, a family man and hopefully soon to be our first South African saint, and already patron for many.

Let us thank God for our womanhood. Let us ask Our Lady to intercede for us in our deepest of human relationships. Let us pray and act as Church and society to correct the imbalances in equality and complementarity.  Let us practice communication as synodal listening and sharing,  in families and all relationships.  Let us take the necessary action as woman to woman, woman to man, mothers and fathers to sons and daughters to teach the way of love and so build the civilization of love that Pope Leo advocates for in Magnifica Humanitas.http://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html We do so that we may  grow in ability to be able to say, “Lord it is good for me to be here.”  

The Pope’s intercession for the month of August is for evangelization in the city, i.e. the houses, apartments, streets, shops and offices too.  https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-07/pope-s-august-prayer-intention-for-evangelization-in-the-city.html.

   THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.

August 5. SEE.  Racism and sexism. Angela referred her group to a discussion Fr Thabo had held on discrimination with some of the catechists at one of their formation sessions.  As they were quite a mixed cultural parish it was interesting to hear their opinions and he had also shared some of those in his Sunday homily.   “Deep down inside ourselves how do we look at men and women of different races and cultures?  Do we respect a German woman differently from a Nigerian woman?   Do we take a Chinese man or a Zulu more seriously?   What is our attitude towards people, but also towards them as “gendered” people? I think that in the last twenty years or so we have become more accepting and tolerant of one another but I don’t know whether that applies to the sexes too.  Jesus lived in a racist society, where Canaanites were not acceptable to the Jews and for a Canaanite woman to approach him for her sick daughter might even have been a shock

JUDGE. Reflect, share, act. Scripture:   Jesus said,   “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  It is not fair to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  The Canaanite woman replied, “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.  Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done as you desire.”  Read Matt 15:21-28.  Pope Francis: The equal dignity of men and women makes us rejoice to see old forms of discrimination disappear, and within families there is a growing reciprocity.  AL: 54     Pope Leo:   It is the State’s responsibility to ensure cohesion, unity and the proper organization of civil society, so that the common good can be pursued with everyone’s contribution. In practical terms, this means that public authorities have the delicate duty to “harmonize the different sectoral interests with the requirements of justice,” seeking a balance between individual interests and the common good, without leaving behind the most vulnerable.  MH 63.    

ACT AND PRAY. Examine our own attitudes on the subjects of racism and sexism.  Pray St Francis Peace Prayer and pray: Mary, Queen Assumed into Heaven, Patroness of South Africa, pray for us.