Ruth the Moabite
A girl needs role models as she grows into womanhood. Usually, she admires her mother, identifies with her, and wants to become an adult woman like her. Sometimes, for various reasons, her own mother cannot serve as this figure of identification or support. In such cases, another woman—a teacher, an older sister, an aunt, or a nun—may gain the girl’s trust and become her role model.
All people need role models throughout their lives, from childhood to old age. The people in the Bible have been and continue to be role models for many Christians around the world. Why? Some are called saints because their way of life and teachings have profoundly touched others.
Ruth lived in Israel centuries before the birth of Jesus. She was a Moabite who married an Israelite man and began to serve the God of Israel. The Old Testament contains a book that tells the story of Ruth and her life. In the New Testament, her name appears in the genealogy of Christ as one of his ancestors.
The Book of Ruth tells how an Israelite family was forced to leave Bethlehem in Judah due to famine and move to Moab. The sons of the family married Moabite women but died after about ten years in the land. The father had also died earlier, leaving the mother, Naomi, alone. Naomi had a close and loving relationship with her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth.
When Naomi heard that the famine in Israel had ended, she decided to return to her homeland. Orpah and Ruth were deeply attached to her and did not want to leave her; they set out with her. Along the way, Naomi urged them to return to their families and remarry, as they had no future with her.
Orpah showed courage by letting go of the familiar and choosing to return home after bidding Naomi a warm farewell. Ruth, however, refused her mother-in-law’s advice. She said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.” Naomi and Ruth then traveled together through the wilderness to Bethlehem in Judah.
After following her mother-in-law and living a modest life with her, Ruth—at Naomi’s advice—married Boaz, a wealthy relative. Naomi knew that a woman could secure her future only by marrying a man. A son was born from this union, bringing great comfort to Naomi, who also raised the child. The boy was named Obed. He became famous through his descendants, as he was the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David—and thus an ancestor of Christ. It is this Jesse we sing of at Christmas: “Lo, how a rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung.”
The Book of Ruth is considered a significant epic poem. What is exemplary in Ruth is her loyalty—she did not want to leave her mother-in-law alone in her vulnerability. She chose to stay by Naomi’s side even amid the uncertainties of an unknown future. For Ruth, Naomi was also like a spiritual mother who led her gently into communion with God. Their relationship also resembled that of a mother and daughter. The book deals with the timeless experience of being an outsider. How can one find their place and purpose in a new and foreign community?
The Book of Ruth is incomplete. We do not know what life with Boaz was like after their son’s birth. We do not know why Naomi raised the boy. Many important questions remain unanswered. Naomi’s life became meaningful—but what about Ruth’s? Was her marriage with Boaz a happy one?
The Virgin Mary’s Mother
The New Testament says little about Anna, but the apocryphal gospels—Jewish or early Christian texts not included in the New Testament canon—tell her story. Anna remains a role model for millions of Christian women to this day.
Anna and her husband Joachim lived in Jerusalem. Joachim was a successful man, but despite his wealth, their greatest sorrow was their childlessness. Childlessness was seen as a sign of God’s disfavor. Once, Joachim was told that he had no right to offer sacrifices since he had not given Israel an heir. Humiliated, he fled to the mountains with his flocks. Anna heard nothing from him for several months and mourned both his absence and their lack of children. She prayed: “Who am I like? Not even the animals of the earth, for they are fruitful.” She reminded God of a long-standing promise: if a child were born, it would be brought to the temple in Jerusalem to be raised. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “Do not fear, Anna! You will bear a child who will be honored for all time.”
The angel also appeared to Joachim, urging him to return to his wife. Joachim replied, “Why should I, rejected and despised, return to her?” Then he heard these remarkable words: “I am God’s messenger, and I appeared today to your wife, who wept and prayed.” Joachim was told Anna would bear a daughter unlike any other in the world. He rejoiced, though he hesitated, until the angel appeared to him again in a dream. Then he was ready to return home.
The angel also told Anna to go and meet her husband. They met at the Golden Gate. When Anna saw Joachim approaching, she ran to meet him and said, “Now I know that the Lord has greatly blessed me, for I am no longer a widow, and I, once barren, shall conceive!” Nine months later, their daughter Mary was born.
When Mary turned two, Joachim reminded Anna of the promise to dedicate the child to the temple. Anna resisted—the thought of keeping the promise caused her deep pain. But when Mary turned three, the moment came, and she was taken to the temple. Tradition says that Joachim died soon after Mary was brought to the temple, and Anna moved from Nazareth to Jerusalem to be near her daughter. Anna died two years later, leaving Mary orphaned at the age of five.
The Bible often tells of elderly women finally giving birth to children who become significant—this was true of Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, and Anna. What are these stories trying to say? Perhaps many people have experienced something similar: a suffering or impossible situation that turns around, giving life a new direction. Life becomes fruitful. The impossible becomes possible. The person is changed—perhaps finding a vocation or life’s purpose. What does Anna tell us? In what way does her life speak to us? Is Anna a role model? Why did she promise that the child would be raised in the temple?
The Woman at Jacob’s Well
She came to draw water in the midday heat to avoid meeting the other women. Her life could not endure the gaze of the community. The woman had had several relationships, all of which had ended. We do not know her background—whether she had children or close relatives. She was once again living with a new man. The woman was a Samaritan. To the Jews, Samaritans were not proper people—they even worshipped a different god.
Jesus met the woman at the well and asked her for water. “Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep,” she replied. So began the encounter between Jesus and the woman in Samaria—a real meeting, where both were seen and heard. Jesus saw through her—her entire life, her sins, and her shame—because she was living with a man who was not her husband. But Jesus did not judge, preach, or moralize. He began a conversation. It was remarkable: a Jewish man speaking to a Samaritan woman. Surely, many in her community had avoided her and condemned her to isolation.
After meeting Jesus, the woman dared to speak uncomfortable truths about her life. At the same time, she became increasingly aware of the falsehood she had been living. She had tried to fill the longing for love in many ways—by entering into relationships that repeatedly damaged her life. She was ashamed of herself. Perhaps she was also ashamed of being unmarried or childless. She was ashamed that she didn’t have a husband and that she wasn’t enough as she was. These are timeless questions that many women have faced. Who is a woman without a man and family? The modern world offers women different roles and opportunities for other choices.
In her small community, the woman’s life had reached a dead end—she had no way out. Only her encounter with Jesus revealed reality and a new kind of love. Her life’s change was visible in her courage to speak to her neighbors and tell them about her meeting with Jesus. She radiated joy and conviction, and her neighbors came to know Jesus as well. Early tradition says that after Christ’s resurrection, the woman was baptized with the name Photine, meaning “the shining one” (in Russian: Svetlana).
We have now met Ruth, Anna, and Photine. The Bible tells of many people whom God shaped, transformed, and prepared for their mission. God still works in this way today. Many people must go—or are invited—into God’s school.
Ruth, Anna, and Photine were women who suffered much, as do all saints. At the heart of Christianity is suffering—but suffering can become a blessing. In the early Church, women played a vital role in rooting Christianity in new environments. Women shared their faith with neighbors and invited them into the community. They taught, prayed, and nurtured within the Church. Christian mothers raised their children in the knowledge of Jesus.
Some women became spiritual mothers. What does it mean to be a spiritual mother? Are there spiritual mothers in our time? What qualities should they have? How can one find a spiritual mother? How can a Christian woman grow into a spiritual mother?
Marketta Pylväskangas