A Full Reward

August 25, 2007

Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

May the LORD reward what you have done! May you receive a full reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge. Ruth 2:12

The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:11-12

Piety

Let us pray: Lord, help us to walk in the path of humility no matter what we face. Help us to turn the other cheek no matter the insult or the personal indignation. Forgive us when we do not meet and greet people with your love no matter how they test us, no matter what the slight. Send us your Holy Spirit to give us refuge under his wing from the rudeness of the world and our own weakness. We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/082507.shtml

Our first reading today comes from the Book of Ruth – this seventh book in the Old Testament and the first one named for a woman.

Ruth’s story helps us to continue to connect the narrative of the ancient Jewish people of Adam, Noah and Moses to the heirs of David and ultimately Jesus Christ. Ruth’s legacy is a story marked by unselfish service and faith in God. Here is a woman who left her father and mother and siblings and the people she knew and stayed with her mother in law, in service in a foreign land, even after the death of her husband. We see Ruth today going into the fields to pick up grain which was left behind by the harvesters…reminding us of the central importance of service to the “anawim,” the widows, orphans and strangers.

Her linkage to the Jewish people is cemented in her second marriage – this one to Boaz of Bethlehem. As the NAB notes on the Introduction of this book explain, “Ruth's piety (Ruth 2:11), her spirit of self-sacrifice, and her moral integrity were favored by God with the gift of faith and an illustrious marriage whereby she became the ancestress of David and of Christ.”

Such piety is reflected in the daily practice of everyone in the Book of Ruth right down to the manner in which people greeting each other on the street saying, “The Lord be with you.” Such a greeting has been passed on to the Christian liturgy.

Ruth epitomizes the person who made themselves a servant as outlined in Matthew’s Gospel reading today. So, too, does Boaz, provide for us an example of a person who fulfills the responsibility to society, to family and to the widows, orphans and strangers.

Rather than shun the foreigner, Boaz -- another mirror of humility -- makes sure that his servants do not harm her and that they leave behind enough for her to find in their fields. He does not shun the stranger. Rather than sending her away to glean at other fields, he welcomes her to follow his own servants, even to the point of providing not just food but a home and a life for her.

Action

How do we greet and treat people?

What do you leave behind for others to glean from your bountiful harvest? If Ruth were walking in your fields, would she find enough food for sustenance?

How do you help those who are difficult to serve?

What is your view about serving the stranger in our nation?