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| “Boaz Casting Barley into Ruth's Veil “ by Harmenszoon van Rijn Rembrandt c. 1645 |
(Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin)
Reading 1: Ruth
1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22
Once in the time of the
judges there was a famine in the land;
so a man from Bethlehem of
Judah
departed with his wife and
two sons
to reside on the plateau of
Moab.
Elimelech, the husband of
Naomi, died,
and she was left with her two
sons, who married Moabite women,
one named Orpah, the other
Ruth.
When they had lived there
about ten years,
both Mahlon and Chilion died
also,
and the woman was left with
neither her two sons nor her husband.
She then made ready to go
back from the plateau of Moab
because word reached her
there
that the LORD had visited his
people and given them food.
Orpah kissed her
mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth stayed with her.
Naomi said, “See now!
Your sister-in-law has gone
back to her people and her god.
Go back after your
sister-in-law!”
But Ruth said, “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.”
Thus it was that Naomi
returned
with the Moabite
daughter-in-law, Ruth,
who accompanied her back from
the plateau of Moab.
They arrived in Bethlehem
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Commentary on Ru 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22
The Old Testament readings
continue to trace God’s relationship with the Hebrew people. We are given a
selection from the Book of Ruth that occurred around the same time as the
Judges. These verses, from the beginning
of the story, establish the geography of the story. The Bethlehem identified specifically (of
Judah) distinguishes it from the Bethlehem of Zebulun (Joshua 19:15). The Bethlehem
The loyalty of Ruth is also
established in this passage as Ruth commits to stay with her mother-in-law in
spite of the hardships and the fact that she is of a different faith. She commits herself to the God of Isaac and
Jacob (“…and your God my God.”)
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
146:5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
R. (1b) Praise the Lord, my soul!
Blessed is he whose help is
the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD,
his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in
them.
R. Praise the Lord, my
soul!
The LORD keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the
oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.
R. Praise the Lord, my
soul!
The LORD gives sight to the
blind.
The LORD raises up those who
were bowed down;
The LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.
R. Praise the Lord, my
soul!
The fatherless and the widow
he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he
thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all
generations. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, my
soul!
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Commentary on Ps 146:5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a,
9bc-10
Psalm 146 is a hymn of praise. The psalmist provides and litany of
attributes showing how God provides salvation. This psalm is often quoted and
the litany it contains is assigned also to the Messiah who comes, fulfilling
the prophets and the Law. Used in that sense the psalm itself is prophetic
establishing the divine relationship between Christ and the God of Isaac and Jacob.
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Gospel: Matthew
22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that
Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and
one of them,
a scholar of the law, tested
him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment
in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him,
“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.”
Commentary on Mt
22:34-40
The story of Jesus delivering the Great Commandment is
the fourth of the “Controversy Stories” in St. Matthew’s Gospel (stories in
which Jesus argues with the Jewish leadership). The question posed by the “Scholar of the Law”
(probably a scribe; see also Luke
10:25-28) “…which commandment in the law is the greatest?” is asked
in a rabbinical sense, meaning; which of the 613 distinct statutes was
considered greatest. Within this body of law, 248 of these precepts were
positive and 365 were prohibitions. In addition these precepts were further
divided into “Light” and “Heavy”. This was a fairly typical type of exchange
for a rabbinical debate.
In answering Jesus quotes two texts of the law that now
form the foundation for a new morality in the Gospel. He fist quotes
Deuteronomy 6:5 “Therefore,
you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and
with all your strength.” This text forms part of the Shema, the Jewish profession of faith.
This first quote would not be surprising. What makes this exchange novel and
important is that Jesus adds the quote from Leviticus 19:18b “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” This juxtaposition of quotes makes them equally “Heavy”
and there is no parallel In Jewish literature.
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Reflection:
The Great Commandment, as
Jesus tells us, provides a foundational morality by which we can evaluate all
of our thoughts and actions. We are given two absolutes by which to conduct our
self-evaluation.
Let’s think of an example to
see how we might apply this foundational belief: Let’s say, for instance, we
are at work and we have just completed a difficult task. As is customary, the
entire team gets together and celebrates that event. Your boss calls you up and
congratulates you specifically for your hard work and you notice that one of
your co-workers is obviously not thrilled with the attention you are getting
(probably thinking they worked as hard as you did).
In this situation how do we
live the Great Commandment? First, on the inside, we must hold our success up
to God. It was only through his gifts that we accomplish anything worthwhile.
If we do this sincerely, our attitude in success must necessarily be one of
humility. After all, it was not through our effort alone that this task was
accomplished and certainly not in our control to make it successful. In
addition to being constantly thankful to God, our praise at times of joy is the
hallmark of the Christian living the Great Commandment.
Next we must deal with our
disgruntled co-worker. We are called to “love our
neighbor as our self.” How do we do
that in this situation? If we are quick, we might ask to share the accolade in
the moment. Perhaps, in keeping with our humility before the Lord, we invite
that person to join us “up front” or at least acknowledge, in sincerity, that
what was done was a team effort, pointing out other members of the team.
Praising our neighbor is on the same level of need as praising God. Jesus made
it so with his pronouncement.
We see from this example how
difficult and complex living the Great Commandment can be. We must constantly
keep God (and Christ) in the fore as we go about our daily lives. When we
encounter others, the Lord invites us to see in them the God-given spirit they
posses and pay them the same respect.
Love the Lord – that is so
hard for our selfish hearts. It is so easy to forget Him completely and focus
only on our own petty needs and problems. Today our prayer must be that we find
in our hearts the love of God and are able to live that love, along with love
of neighbor, well and fully.
Pax
[2]
The picture is “Boaz Casting Barley into Ruth's Veil “ by Harmenszoon van Rijn
Rembrandt c. 1645
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
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