God’s Women – Ruth

Immigration is a volatile subject. How should we, as Christians, respond to this issue? In this program, Fr. Mike talks about Ruth, an immigrant herself. He gives the historical context, about 1100 years before Jesus. Naomi was living in Bethlehem. The country was struck with famine and hardship. But, on the other side, things were good. So she and her husband moved to Moab. They were immigrants in this land. Here her two sons married local women.

Then her husband and sons died. Now Naomi wanted to return to her native country. Naomi told the two women that they should stay in their own land and marry someone there. But Ruth chose not to do so. There is a beautiful passage of Ruth telling Naomi that she loved her and would go with her. So,they go to Bethlehem and now Ruth is the immigrant.Fr. Mike looks at the reasons for immigration and why attitudes toward immigrants are not always good. He quotes several passages from the Bible about how we should treat immigrants and strangers.He then looks at in-laws and commitment. There is a beautiful “Moment of Commitment” during the program.