Friday, August 20, 2021

 Memorial of Saint Bernard, abbot

(Ruth 1:1.3-6.14b-16, 22; Matthew 22:34-40)

An anecdote from the life of St. Bernard helps one appreciate today’s first reading.  Bernard came from French nobility.  He had five brothers, four of whom went with him to become monks.  The fifth, the youngest, want to join the others in their monastic vocations.  When told that he had to take of the family’s estate, he complained that his brothers wanted to cultivate a heavenly estate while he was left with just an earthly one!

In the first reading Ruth seems eager to cultivate a heavenly estate as well.  She has married into an Israelite.  When her husband dies, she is told to go back to her own people.  But she says that her people are now Israel, and her god is Israel’s God.  She remains with her mother-in-law until she marries another Israelite to solidify her status in the People of God.

We too have chosen Israel’s God as our own.  He has invited us to face the world and the interior of our own lives with His guidance.  He will help us to be more compassionate and faithful friends to those who love justice.  He will assist us to be more challenging and instructive adversaries to those who spurn righteousness.  Finally, He will guide us past our inner compulsions and moral weaknesses to a peace that lasts forever.