PRESENTATION TO SOUTH AFRICAN UNION OF CATHOLIC WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION (SAUCWO) 24 TH AUGUST 2020 14H15-16H00 Theme: “I can’t breathe “Day of Prayer” “I can’t breathe”. These words have resonated around the world since the death of George Floyd in the US, and in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. When Mama Fikile sent me the t heme, “I can’t Breathe” I was a little taken aback and said to myself I hope we are not jumping on a “band wagon” to join the voices tha t are already there. Reflecting on the theme it became very clear to me what is the challenge our mothers, sisters, aunts, and you as women of different sodalities/organisations, are faced with on a daily basis. Another thing, I am deeply impressed that we gather in a “ Day of Prayer ” as a meaningful response to the cry “I can’t breathe” . It made me ask myself where should I start to address you? As I reflected on this topic, I was particularly struck by last week’s first readings for Friday – Ezekiel 37, the well-known story of the valley filled with dry bones. As Ezekiel watched, the bones snapped together into full skeletons. Then they were covered with sinews, flesh and skin. But they only became alive when God breathed his breath into them . Perhaps, many of you feel like this at the moment-- “dry bones ” ! Here are a few scripture texts among many which reveal the importance of breath or breathing, ---if we have stopped breathing we are dead, there is now no life in us. Genesis 2:7 says: “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living person .” Psalm104: 30 “You send forth your spirit, they are created and you renew the face of the earth ” Breathing out the Spirit brings Life. Job 33: 4 “The spirit of God has made me and the breath of the almighty gives me life.” In John 20:22 we read that Jesus breathed on his disciples, after His resurrection: “ When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “ Breath flows from the very life-giving substance of God. It is the substance of life. It illumines for us the gift of the Holy Spirit. In many of our languages (for instance in isiZulu/Xhosa/Sesotho) the word for breath and spirit is the same (Moya). When breath leaves our bodies, we die. Hence the saying: “He /she breathed out her last breath”. The President of SAUCWO- Ms. Fikile Motsa, requested me to give a word of encouragement to the Catholic women of our Conference area on your Prayer Day during this period of Covid-19. In our short conversation we both agreed that as women you are faced with great challenges during these hard times, of stress, loneliness and isolation. I 1 | P a g e
gladly said yes because for me this fits well with August – the Women ’s’ Month. I thought at first I could do it at the beginning of the month. Unfortunately, I did not manage then but now here we are celebrating together our Month of August as women of faith in prayer and in support of one another. It always pains me that the month of August says very little about the beauty of being a woman. All what is talked about today is Gender Based Violence. This month has turned out to be a month of statistics of how many women have been raped? How many women have been killed? How many women have been maimed? This is unfortunate! I do believe as Catholic Women we must never lose sight of the beauty and value of being women in society. We make a great contribution changing lives in our society. Remember those 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 for their rights. See those women who still continue even today to fight for justice and goodness in society. They hand over the flag/baton to us gathered here today to make a change. It is unfortunate that during this month, we know many women who have or will lose their lives. The bodies of women found in the sugar cane fields in Umtwalume on the South Coast in KZN, the 20 year old Wits Student and many others who have disappeared or are forgotten. We know many women who are struggling and going through difficult /tough situations. I believe with the important role that women play in our Church/ Society should have us being celebrated 365 days, every hour, every minute , every second, not only in August. I would request that during this session as we look at the challenges that make us cry like George Floyd, “I can’t breathe” , we must remember the beauty of who we are as women and the important role we play in the Church and Society and at the heart of our families. The effects of Covid -19, during the lock down period, made us all feel like dead walking zombies, the “dry bones” of whom the Prophet Ezekiel spoke. WE felt we were captured, in a concentration camp. For some it might have felt like they were in “gas chambers”. No one was prepared for this. In this time of Covid - 19, your Theme “I can’t Breathe “Day of Prayer”” is significant. Breath has taken on a new significance. We all have to wear face masks. Hence many of us feel that we cannot breathe properly. One of the first symptoms of Covid - 19 is shortness of breath. The same applies to social distancing. In Romans 12 verse 5 says ; “ We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” But in the time of Covid - 19 we are forced to maintain social distance from each other, and in fact, to have personal contact as seldom as possible, only when necessary. Because of Covid - 19 all the visible signs of our unity as one body in Christ have been obliterated, and we even feel cut off from the very source of life, and the presence of God – our breath. It seems as if God has abandoned us. Our Churches are closed. Our physical unity is no more. Our breath has been cut off. As a consequence, we see evil flourishing. We read daily reports of a resurgence of gender-based violence, and violence against women and 2 | P a g e
children. We read of suicide rates skyrocketing. In Australia there have been more reported deaths from suicides committed during lockdown than from Covid - 19 itself. We read of an exponential increase in mental health problems, because of lockdown and social isolation. We can well ask if God has abandoned us. As women of faith we know well that God has not abandoned us. It is humanity that has abandoned God. Our world is ruled by greed and materialism. On a global scale, the rich are getting richer while the poor are being oppressed more and more. We have destroyed God’s creation – the very matrix that sustains us and within which we live. Even the Holy Father has said that the “ increase in diseases and the emergence of new pandemics cannot be separated from the destruction and poisoning of our global environment ” . But we remain people of hope. I believe that this prayer day has been organised as a response to our faith and hope that God will never leave us abandoned. Effects of Covid-19 – “ I can’t breathe ” “ I can ’t breathe” caused some of you for the first time to have 24 hour supervision of your kids, this was not easy at all. Though it was good that you could be with your kids. “I can’t breathe” meant that for 24 hours having your husband around the house. At times you did not know what to do with him. But at the same time it was good, maybe after many years that you could bond with your husband “I can’t breathe” left us with a feeling of isolation experienced during this time. The loneliness impacted upon us. We felt isolation from our loved ones. Many of us have been infected and affected by Covid-19 as we had to mourn the loss of loved ones, we could not even bury and give them a fitting funeral. “I can’t breathe” meant the loss of my job and loss of income. “I can’t breathe” saw my salary cut. “ I can’t b reathe ” forced Churches to close and we could not celebrate Holy Mass as a community for the last five months. The “I can’t breathe” period showed there is corruption alive and kicking. Women involved in the PPEs procurement scandal, what a shame indeed! “I can’t breathe” left us unsure whether my child is safe to go back to school. Today when many children have gone back to school I worry if my child will come back safe? “I can’t breathe” saw injustices around us, it highlighted the corruption that we are faced with today in our Country. If the government would only have channelled the resources put aside as response to Covid -19 to be administered correctly so that the poor would live, I would be able to breath! “I can’t breathe” , made me afraid to shout and ask for help 3 | P a g e
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