Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
August 26, 2023
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17
Naomi and Ruth have returned to Naomi’s homeland. Ruth busies herself gathering up the leavings from the grain harvest. Meanwhile Naomi renews an acquaintance with a well-to-do relative of hers, Boaz. Boaz comes to know about Ruth’s care for Naomi and her devotion to Naomi’s people. Eventually Ruth and Boaz marry, and Ruth bears a son to Boaz. The neighbors pray that he will become famous in Israel.
The child does become important. He is Obed who becomes the father of Jesse, the father of David. He is the grandfather of the king who brought Israel to its finest hours.
The faithful foreigner proves to be an essential link in the family chain that led to the Messiah. God works in mysterious ways.
