Ruth
No fixed feast day in the calendar
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Ruth, the faithful Moabite woman, great-grandmother of King David and ancestor of Jesus
Who is she?
Ruth is the main character of the Book of Ruth, a short book in the Old Testament. She was a foreigner, from the people of Moab, but she came to believe in the God of Israel. The Gospel of Saint Matthew includes her name in the genealogy of Jesus: Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth (cf. Mt 1:5).
Her story
Long ago, a family in Bethlehem was hit by famine and had to go and live in the land of Moab. There, the father died. The two sons married two Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. About ten years later, both sons died too. Their mother, Naomi, was left with only her two widowed daughters-in-law (cf. Ru 1:1-5).
Naomi decided to go back to Bethlehem and urged her two daughters-in-law to return to their own families. Orpah kissed her goodbye, but Ruth stayed close to her (cf. Ru 1:14). Ruth told her mother-in-law that wherever she went, Ruth would go; wherever she lived, Ruth would live; Naomi’s people would be her people, and Naomi’s God her God (cf. Ru 1:16).
They arrived in Bethlehem right at the barley harvest. The two women were very poor. Ruth asked to go gleaning in the fields to feed Naomi (cf. Ru 2:2). She happened to come to the field of Boaz, a relative of Naomi (cf. Ru 2:3). Boaz had heard how much she loved her mother-in-law, so he treated her very kindly: he let her glean in his field, invited her to eat with the harvesters, and told the workers to leave grain behind for her to pick up (cf. Ru 2:8-16).
Later, Boaz married Ruth. They had a son, named Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of King David (cf. Ru 4:17). From the line of King David, many generations later, Jesus was born.
Why does the Church remember her?
Ruth is a model of faithfulness and love. She was a foreigner, yet she has a place in the genealogy of Jesus. This shows that God loves and calls every nation, leaving no one out. At the weekday Mass on 17 December, the Church reads the genealogy of Jesus, which includes her name.
A lesson for you
- Love and help your grandparents and parents, especially when they are old and frail.
- Be kind to new classmates who come from somewhere else, as Boaz was kind to Ruth.
Identifying marks
- A small sheaf of barley held against her chest: she went gleaning (picking up the ears of grain the harvesters left behind) to feed her mother-in-law (cf. Ru 2:2-3).
- A field of ripe golden barley, with harvesters in the distance: the field of Boaz in Bethlehem, where she met the man who would become her husband.
- A young woman with a head covering and a rough cloth dress in natural colors: she was a poor widow living simply.
- A very faint ring of light: the Church honors the righteous people of the Old Testament, the ancestors of Jesus.
- A hilltop town behind her: Bethlehem, Naomi’s hometown, where Jesus would later be born.
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Compiled by i-Catholic · About