Susanna's beauty

Today we approach a text of the prophet Daniel, the cantor of divine "justice", in history and even beyond history, as his name says "Daniyy'el - God is my judge". The synthesis of his announcement is in the cry of joy of the people at the conclusion of a story of fidelity that man wanted to transform into a story of lies: "God listens to the voice of the righteous who cry out to him, save those who hope in him" ( Dn 13.60).
Susanna, a woman of particular beauty, lived with her husband Ioachim in Babylon in a house with a garden, frequented by the notables of the city. And it is in that garden that her story begins.
The garden, in the Bible, is a place of harmony and peace, an image of Paradise. In the garden God places the newly created man and woman so that they may live in serenity and truth. And it is precisely there that the divider, the devil, who wants to divide the creature from his Creator through lies, intervenes. So it happened with Eve and so he tries with Susanna who, however, chooses fidelity.

To him Infinite Truth, Susanna, accused of the lie, turns with confidence. The same name: "shoshan-giglio" outlines the fidelity of this woman to her husband, to the Torah, to the Law of her fathers, to her Truth: she rejects the lie even at the cost of her life.
Its beauty fascinates two elderly judges who frequented their home, those of whom the Lord said: "Iniquity came out of Babylon through the work of elders and judges, who are only apparently guides of the people" (13.5 ) Taken by an uncontrolled passion for that woman "they lost the light of reason, they averted their eyes so as not to see the sky and not to remember the just judgments" (13,9) that should have characterized their activity. Aware of the gravity of their passion, they do not have the courage to reveal their purpose to each other and each pretends to go home and then return to tempt the girl.
In the place of sin they meet and have no choice but to confess their passion.

Together they plan how to meet her. The opportunity is offered by the bathroom that the woman used to do, alone. The two elders introduce themselves to her declaring their passion and demanding that it be granted to them. If she refused, they would accuse her of having caught her in the act of adultery. The woman's rejection turns lust into cold and inhuman cruelty. But nothing convinces her to give in to the lie and she, as if threatened, she is publicly accused and sentenced to death. From judges defenders of life they are transformed into lying accusers who lead to death.
Susanna in tears, "raised her eyes to heaven with her heart full of trust in the Lord" and "the Lord listened to her voice" (13:44): words that shine in the darkness of lies. She aroused the holy spirit of a young man named Daniel who, with a skilful argument, exposed the two liars and proclaimed the woman's innocence. The whole assembly broke out in that cry of joy with which we began the reflection.
The two judges were sentenced "to the same penalty they had plotted" against Susanna. God's "justice" is manifested in the salvation of those who hope in him.

Anna Maria Del prete
NP May 2021