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20th Week Ordinary Time
Friday Year I
Beginning of Book of Ruth
Today we have the beginning of one of the Bible’s lovely stories. It is the story of how Ruth chose to stay with the Jewish nation even in time of famine, after her Jewish husband had died. Her country of Moab was out of the famine but she chose to stay with her mother-in-law when another woman went back to her own land, after the men she and Ruth had been married to died.
We are not told why Ruth stays. Is it loyalty to her in laws, or has she come to believe in the Jewish faith? We do not know.
But there is a beautiful story of the providence of God in working out how Ruth finds a second good husband and eventually through Ruth, who is not an Israelite, King David comes to be born; her son is David’s grandfather.
The Father’s of the church read all sorts of mystical meanings in the story of Ruth, especially of how she being an outsider prefigured the spreading of the Kingdom of God to all people.
I like the story because it speaks of family loyalty, caring and sharing; of a woman who was prepared to accept responsibility for her elders.
In this day and age, when so many of our old are closed away in homes, it is a nice story to read. The story also shows the providence of God. This is something we should take a lot more heed off, watching how God is at work in our lives.
The providence of God can only be seen in hindsight, thus it takes a bit longer to recognise in our lives, but when we look back and see how things always work out for the best then we can recongise how God is in control of all.
Friday Year I
Beginning of Book of Ruth
Today we have the beginning of one of the Bible’s lovely stories. It is the story of how Ruth chose to stay with the Jewish nation even in time of famine, after her Jewish husband had died. Her country of Moab was out of the famine but she chose to stay with her mother-in-law when another woman went back to her own land, after the men she and Ruth had been married to died.
We are not told why Ruth stays. Is it loyalty to her in laws, or has she come to believe in the Jewish faith? We do not know.
But there is a beautiful story of the providence of God in working out how Ruth finds a second good husband and eventually through Ruth, who is not an Israelite, King David comes to be born; her son is David’s grandfather.
The Father’s of the church read all sorts of mystical meanings in the story of Ruth, especially of how she being an outsider prefigured the spreading of the Kingdom of God to all people.
I like the story because it speaks of family loyalty, caring and sharing; of a woman who was prepared to accept responsibility for her elders.
In this day and age, when so many of our old are closed away in homes, it is a nice story to read. The story also shows the providence of God. This is something we should take a lot more heed off, watching how God is at work in our lives.
The providence of God can only be seen in hindsight, thus it takes a bit longer to recognise in our lives, but when we look back and see how things always work out for the best then we can recongise how God is in control of all.
