Be Faithful

12 Dec

“Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable than fidelity. Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

In the Old Testament, Naomi was upset because she had moved with her husband from Judah to Moab to have a better chance of gathering grain to feed themselves. When her husband passed away suddenly, Naomi realized that she was utterly defenseless. She did not want anything to happen to her daughters-in-law, so she told them to return to Judah for their own safety. One did. The other, Ruth, did not. She remained with Naomi.

Food is quite important to us. Food and water are essentials. They say that, without water, we can die within a matter of days, generally three to five days. Without food, we can only live for about a month before our organs shut down. The grains in Moab were important to Naomi and Ruth.

What is also important to us is the faithfulness of others. We know – even though we attempt to do so at times in our lives – that we cannot possibly manage without the faithfulness and help of others. Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi was very important and is remembered this day as we add either a symbol of a sheaf of wheat or an ear of corn to the Jesse Tree.

We know that we would never have been able to survive without the faithfulness of God. He promised His people that He would send someone to deliver them from their sins and He did just that in His Son, Jesus Christ.

We, in turn, are called to be faithful to the Lord in our daily lives. We know that it is often incredibly difficult because the world offers so many options that are designed to lead us astray. On this day in our Advent journey, it would do us well to ask God for the graces that we need to remain faithful to Him, for He is our only sure hope of salvation.

FAITH ACTION: Have you fallen short on promises to others, breaking faithfulness and trust? Do all that you can to amend what you have done.