Ornament: Grain
Naomi is an Israelite woman who is married and has two sons. There was a famine in their land so the whole family moved to the country of Moab in order to survive. There the sons grew and married women from the country of Moab, who were not Israelites.
Ten years after they moved there, Naomi's husband died and so did both of her sons. Naomi was struck with grief and loss, but she also was afraid because as a woman she could not provide for herself the way a husband or a son could. She thought that she was being cursed by God. Naomi also was afraid for her daughters-in-law, and told them to return to their parents so they could have food and support.
One of the daughters did return to her family, but the other, Ruth, did not. She begged Naomi to let her stay with her, and remain in the family of the Israelites. Ruth said:
"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!”
So Ruth and Naomi returned together to the land of the Israelites. They returned to the city of Bethlehem and lived a very poor existence. Ruth, who was still young and strong, would go into the neighboring fields after the landowners were done working to gather the leftovers of wheat that were missed by the first workers. This was the only food that they had, so Ruth worked very hard. She came earlier than the other poor and stayed later, gathering the whole time.
One landowner named Boaz noticed her hard work and asked about her. He was told her whole story, and was impressed with how much love and concern she had for her mother in law, and how hard she worked for the both of them. Because he was moved with pity for her he told her to stay with the women in his household during the day, and to gather even more extra food than she would be able to in the field. He even invited her to his own table to eat with him. Finally, he told his own workers to spill handfuls of grain on purpose so that she would have more to gather later on.
When Ruth returned to Naomi in the evenings with much more grain than expected, Naomi asked about who it was who had treated her so kindly. When Ruth told her about Boaz, Naomi recognized that he was a distant cousin of theirs and understood that Boaz might also be interested in gaining Ruth as his wife - and began to help Ruth encourage him.
There was a tradition for the Israelites that when a married man died that the closest male relative would take on the land that the man had owned and also marry his widow - his wife, in order to raise up children for the first man's name and take care of his wife. Naomi told Ruth to remind Boaz of this connection that they had. Boaz already knew that there was one man who was a closer relation to Ruth than he, so he first asked him if he would buy the land and marry Ruth. However this man already had land and so allowed Boaz to take his place instead. He blessed him with the phrase "Bestow a name in Bethlehem!"
So Boaz married Ruth, and together they had a son who they named Obed, who eventually had a son named Jesse, the father of David, the King.
Reflection & Connection: Ruth is the heroine of our story because she would not leave her mother in law when she needed her the most. She also loved being a part of the family of Israel and would not be parted from them. She was willing to do very hard work all day just to provide a small amount of bread for her mother in law. Boaz noticed this and liked her very much for it - and Ruth, who was eager to remain an Israelite, happily married him. Because of Ruth's great desire to be a part of the Israelite family, she was blessed with being a part of the royalty of Israel - she was King David's great grandmother! Even more importantly, even though she was a foreigner she became an ancestor to someone else born in the family line of King David - Jesus himself.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for providing us with food and shelter that we need to survive, the way you provided for Ruth and Naomi. Please help us to use the energy that it gives us to seek out your love and to be close to you.
Conclude with you favorite family prayer or an Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be.
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