August 19, 2011
Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
By Melanie Rigney
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.” (Ruth 1:16)
The Lord keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free. (Psalm 146:6-7)
(Jesus told the scholar who asked which commandment was the greatest:) "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 22:37-40)
PIETY
Lord, help me to love as You love me.
STUDY
Friendships come and go in this world, and sometimes for good reasons. People we loved and trusted turn out to be physically or mentally abusive to us, or to be unethical. Sometimes, the reasons are lesser. She’s got so much drama in her life that there’s never time to listen to what’s happening with us. He’s so judgmental. She’s so negative. His politics are 180 degrees from ours. And so we pull away… sometimes all at once, and sometimes by letting the friendship drift away.
Imagine if God judged us in the same way, revoked our baptism and walked away, because we persisted in gossip, didn’t find time to pray, were quick to anger, spent money we didn’t have, or envied a neighbor or coworker his or her successes. There are reasons in our lives every day that God could justify losing faith in each and every one of us. And yet, He doesn’t. He loves despite our flaws.
We’re not called to stay in situations that endanger us. But we are called to love all, even if it needs to be at a safe distance. How safe and at what distance are informed by God. In the moment, Ruth’s life would have been easier had she stayed in the plateau of Moab as Orpah did. Her love for and loyalty to Naomi took her to the strange land of Bethlehem… and to Boaz, and hence to part of the lineage of Jesus.
ACTION
For many of us, the second greatest commandment can be more difficult than the first on most days. Today, pray for those who threaten or annoy you most. Focus on people you interact with daily, not politicians or criminals or entertainers.
