At the time of Elimelech and Naomi (husband and wife), there was a great famine in Israel, so they, who lived in Bethlehem, decided, together with their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, to immigrate to Moab in search of better living conditions. Once in the distant land, Mahlon and Chilion married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, respectively.
Unfortunately, both Elimelech and his sons died in Moab, leaving Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah widowed. Only God knows the pain these woman went through, the tears they shed and the sorrow they experienced. At that time, when a woman was widowed, she was fragile, exposed, with no guarantee of support (provided by her husband), and subject to the benevolence of family members.
The lives of Naomi, Ruth and Orpah were going through delicate times. With the loss of her husband and children, Naomi decided to return to Israel and, with motherly love, proposed to Ruth and Orpah that they follow their lives, that they stay in their land, Moab, and with their family and friends, guide their lives. But this represented a drastic violation of Jewish Law. Orpah decided to follow Naomi’s advice. However, Ruth had another decision: she wanted to accompany Naomi, to be her support in her old age, to accompany her wherever she went.
THE FRIEND
The words of Ruth (a name that means “the friend”) should inspire us all: “Do not insist that I leave you, for wherever you go, I will go with you, and wherever you stay, I will stay there; your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God. Where you die, I also want to die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal harshly with me and add to it, if even death separates me from you” (Ruth 1:16-17). Ruth stayed with her mother-in-law, probably putting into practice what Naomi had taught her: to express her feelings of gratitude and her faith in Yahweh with concrete gestures of love.
Just when you think that Ruth’s life was difficult enough, she, out of her love for God and Naomi, sets out to immigrate to an unknown land, to live the culture and customs of a people different from her own, to live and love a unique God, different from the gods worshipped in Moab. In addition, neither Ruth nor Naomi had any money; they were poor and had no protection from any man to support them.
Ruth was not only faithful to his word; she also tried to work hard in search of food for herself and Naomi. So she went out into the fields to glean. God wanted Ruth to glean in the fields belonging to Booz, a relative of Elimelech.
When he saw Ruth working in his fields and heard about her story and her faithfulness to Naomi, Booz took her in and decided to protect her. Later, after all the precepts and traditions had been fulfilled, Ruth and Booz got married. With this union, Ruth and Naomi were rescued and protected. From this union came a son, whom they named Obed who would become the paternal grandfather of King David.
She, a foreigner, contributed to the Davidic dynasty from which Jesus came. This living testimony of Ruth should inspire us to be faithful to God, to those we love, to family, to humanity! Together with Ruth, in living out our vocation, we must be persevering in faith, joyful in self-giving, abundant in love.
SERVING THE POOREST
Ruth is an inspiration to serve and love those most in need of care and affection. So do many women today, who leave their homeland and dedicate their lives to serving the poorest and neediest. This is the case of Sister Marie Shoko Luviringa, a Congolese who has been a Comboni missionary for five years. She has been in Chad since 2018 and works as a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bebedjia, in the diocese of Doba, in the south of the country.
Sister Marie tells us about her daily work: “Here at the hospital, every day is special, with its unforeseen events, its joys and its surprises. There’s no shortage of work and sometimes you could say it’s too much, because we don’t have many medical staff. I do a bit of everything: preparing patients for operations, registering new patients, preparing therapy for tuberculosis patients, etc.”
In addition to her duties at the hospital, the Comboni Sister also accompanies the group of girls in charge of the processions, with music and dancing, which take place during the offertory at Sunday Mass. “Every Saturday afternoon we meet to prepare the choreography, read the Word of God and rehearse together,” she says. Sister Marie says that she feels fulfilled and very happy to be a nurse and to be living this mission experience in Chad.
