RBWords

     These very tender words have been chosen for quite a few weddings in my pastoral experience.  They are spoken by Ruth, a Moabite woman, who had become the daughter-in-law of Naomi, a Jew.  The husbands of both women had died.  Naomi offers to let Ruth go back to her people and their faith.  Ruth responds with the words quoted above.

     What I have always been touched by in this scene is the combination of freedom and attachment.  The bond of affection between the two women is strong but it is an attachment that is freely given and accepted.  That, to me, is the strength of a good friendship.  The friends freely create a bond of affection that values the individual decision to love.  Parents experience this when the time comes to start "letting go" of their children.  In campus ministry, this process is most vividly displayed each year when a new class of freshmen arrives and moves into the dormitories.  The tearful scenes can be both touching and funny.  The bond of affection is strong, but the grant of freedom is the condition for that love to stay strong in the long term.

     St. Thomas Aquinas, O.P., considers friendship as the best analogy for a human relationship with God.  It is a bond of love that must be freely given and accepted.  Ruth's affection for her mother-in-law and her words of commitment are eloquent testimony to this wonderful gift.  AMEN