DN 13: 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62
In this reading, a women by the name of Susanna is married to a well-respected man named Joakim. Susanna is also the daughter of Hilliard, who raised her to be god-fearing women. Susanna walked daily in her husband’s garden and two elders began to notice this. Eventually, they began to lust for her. One day, she entered the garden as usual and the the two older men planned to seize her. Since it was warm out, she decided to take a bath. As soon as her maids left to go gather her things, the two older men attacked her. They proposed that either she would give into their lust and sleep with them or they would testify against her, saying that they caught her sleeping with another man. Susanna chose to stay true to her morals and screamed for help, knowing she would be sentenced to death since she defied the older men. Furthermore, when the men testified against her in court, the assembly believed them and she was sentenced to death. Susanna cried out to the Lord saying how she has been falsely accused and sentenced to death for doing noticing wrong. The Lord heard her prayer and suddenly a young man named David interjected and demanded to have no part of her death since there was no clear evidence. This caught the assembly’s attention and they returned back to court. Daniel questioned both of the elders separately. He asked them the same question,” what tree did they hide under.”Both men had a different answer, which pointed out their act of perjury and the two elders were sentenced to death. This reading teaches us that in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, we should always stick to the truth. The truth always finds its way out, so its always better to tell the truth because lying gets one nowhere. The act of lying brings nothing but guilt and even more problems. Being honest comes with a sense of clarity because you are also being honest with yourself. Unlike lying, which tends to overwhelm one’s mind because not only are you lying to others, but also to yourself.