Boaz took Ruth and ... bore Obed, the father of Jesse and grandfather of David. (St Ambrose)11th December 2013. below - Saint Daniel the Stylite

11/12/14 Night Office, Patristic Reading, 
[St. Daniel the Stylite ] 

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

THURSDAY

Year I

First Reading

Ruth 4:1-22

Responsory      Is 53:3; Ps 89:30

Hear me and come to me; listen, and you will live. + I will make with you an everlasting covenant, I will send the promise given in mercy

to David.

V. I will make his line endure forever, his throne will be as lasting as the heavens. + I will make ...

Second Reading

From a commentary by Saint Ambrose of Milan (In s. Luc III, 31·35: se 45,123·124)

A symbolic marriage

When Boaz, the great-grandfather of David, saw Ruth's behaviour, her devotion to her mother-in-law, her loyalty to her dead husband, and her fear of God, he chose her for his wife in accordance with the law of Moses which bade him raise up offspring for his next of kin. That this marriage was symbolic is shown by the blessing given by the elders: May the Lord make this woman who is about to come into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May she make you powerful in Ephrathah and renowned in Bethlehem. And may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman. And Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife, and she bore Obed, the father of Jesse and grandfather of David.

Saint Matthew did well, then, when about to summon all nations to the Church through the gospel, to recall that the Lord who brings about this gathering of the nations was himself, in his human body, of alien origin. Matthew thus made known that it was from this lineage that he would come who was to summon the nations - he whom we desire to follow, we of alien origin who were gathered together when we left our na­tive land and said to whoever called us to worship the Lord, Paul, for example, or any bishop: Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. So did Ruth,like Leah and Rachel, forget her own peop le and her fa ther' s house and, freeing herself from the fetters of the law, she entered the Church.

What good reason there was for inserting Ruth's name in the lineage of the Lord is shown by the revelation of a still more profound mystery, for in the words: May the Lord give you power in Ephrathah and make your name renowned in Bethlehem it is prophesied that Christ should be her descendant. For what is this power if not that by which the Christ gathered together all the nations of the world? Whence is this renown if not in the fact that Bethlehem became the Lord's hometown when he was born as a man. As the prophecy proclaims: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the towns of Judah, for from you shall come the prince who will rule my people Israel.
Responsory,      Lk 1:31. ...

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Bible Byte Ruth 4

 

Ian Lynchhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L97U6nBDYMg   

11th December 2013 - Saint Daniel the Stylite - Independent Catholic News

11th December 2013 - Saint Daniel the Stylite

Posted: Thursday, December 11, 2014 1:07 am

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Hermit. Daniel was born at Maratha in Mesopotamia in 409. At the age of 12 he decided he wanted to join a monastery. The abbot consulted with his parents and admitted him to the community. Years later he visited St Simeon Stylite, who lived on top of a pillar, and received a blessing from him. Daniel stayed in the monastery until he was 42, but never forgot his meeting with St Simeon. When the abbot died, his fellow monks asked Daniel to take his place but he refused. Instead he went on a series of pilgrimages and then lived alone in an old temple. When St Simeon died in 459 Daniel decided to follow the way he had lived. For the next 33 years he lived on top of pillars, refusing to come down even for his own ordination. The Patriarch of Constantinople climbed up to lay his hands on the saint's head. Thousands of people came to visit St Daniel on his pillar to ask for his advice and prayers. Many healings were attributed to him. He died at the age of 80 in 493 and was buried in a chapel at the foot of his column.