Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
August 25, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082523.cfm

---

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we read the tender and beloved story of Ruth and Naomi. We have come to love the beautiful exchange between these two women, filled with devotion and selfless love:

But Ruth said to Naomi, “Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you!
For wherever you go, I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge,
your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
Where you die I will die,
and there be buried.
May the LORD do thus to me, and more,
if even death separates me from you!”

Ruth 1: 16-17

---

Who doesn’t long to be devoutly loved the way Ruth loved Naomi?
Who, especially in elder years or lonely times, isn’t filled with gratitude for the faithful companionship of dear ones?
Who isn’t moved at a wedding ceremony when young couples make brave promises like Ruth’s, having no idea what their vow will require down the years?

---

Reading the story of Ruth from these perspectives can carry us to deep reflection, but it can also leave us with an insubstantial or idealized perception of the infinite Love mirrored in this Scripture.

The Book of Ruth is so much more than an admirable devotion.

In the Book of Ruth, significant theological formation occurs, presenting a beautifully written story placed distinctively between the chaos of the Book of Judges and the epic struggle between the prophet Samuel and the intractable King Saul in the first book of Samuel. Nestled in between this chaotic downward spiral and the recalcitrance of Saul, Ruth exhibits resilience amidst vulnerability, an outsider grafted into the Davidic lineage and its climactic conclusion in Christ. A theology of hope for those found outside the normative structures of patriarchal, religious, and cultural normative spheres.

Bradford Parker: Ruth: A Theology of Resilience Amidst Vulnerability

---

Various authors suggest a host of underlying theological themes in Ruth:

• the community is responsible for those who are hungry;
• the experience of despair cannot be ignored;
• people young and old are to be cared for; and
• the marginalized are to push to the center, and those at the center are to move toward the marginalized. (Katherine Doob Sakenfeld: Ruth, Interpretation)

Another writer sees “Ruth is herself the “mirror of God” by reflecting Yahweh through her actions of devotion throughout the narrative.” (John C. Holbert: Preaching the Old Testament)

Andre LaCocque argues that “Ruth belongs to the extraordinary. She is characterized by hesed (Mercy).” (Ruth: Continental Commentary)

---

The Book of Ruth, on surface appearance, is a simple yet compelling story. But reading under its words, we will find astounding depth:

• a faithful elder who now feels abandoned by God (Naomi),
• a vulnerable young woman who chooses to act for mercy and justice (Ruth)
• a man who, by aligning himself unselfishly to the Law, allows the continuation of the familial line which will lead through Obed to David and ultimately to Jesus.(Boaz)

---

Naomi teaches us how to respond from the depths of loss, sadness, diminishment, or fear. Ruth shows us how courage, fidelity, and mercy act in the everyday world.
Boaz models faithfulness, responsibility, and justice given without question when needed.

---

It is not a stretch to say that Ruth is a Christ figure, foreshadowing the Merciful Jesus who accompanies us in our vulnerabilities and who, by loving us, teaches us how to love:

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:36-40

---

Poetry: Rather than choose a single poem for you, here is the link to a series of thoughtful, poetic reflections on the characters in the Book of Ruth.

Click to access ruthpoems-1.pdf

---

Music: Ruth’s Song – Misha and Marty Goetz