Gospel and Word of the Day - 23 August 2025

A reading from the Book of Ruth
2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17

Naomi had a prominent kinsman named Boaz,
of the clan of her husband Elimelech.
Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi,
"Let me go and glean ears of grain in the field
of anyone who will allow me that favor."
Naomi said to her, "Go, my daughter," and she went.
The field she entered to glean after the harvesters
happened to be the section belonging to Boaz
of the clan of Elimelech.

Boaz said to Ruth, "Listen, my daughter!
Do not go to glean in anyone else's field;
you are not to leave here.
Stay here with my women servants.
Watch to see which field is to be harvested, and follow them;
I have commanded the young men to do you no harm.
When you are thirsty, you may go and drink from the vessels
the young men have filled."
Casting herself prostrate upon the ground, Ruth said to him,
"Why should I, a foreigner, be favored with your notice?"
Boaz answered her:
"I have had a complete account of what you have done
for your mother-in-law after your husband's death;
you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth,
and have come to a people whom you did not know previously."

Boaz took Ruth.
When they came together as man and wife,
the LORD enabled her to conceive and she bore a son.
Then the women said to Naomi,
"Blessed is the LORD who has not failed
to provide you today with an heir!
May he become famous in Israel!
He will be your comfort and the support of your old age,
for his mother is the daughter-in-law who loves you.
She is worth more to you than seven sons!"
Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became his nurse.
And the neighbor women gave him his name,
at the news that a grandson had been born to Naomi.
They called him Obed.
He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

From the Gospel according to Matthew
23:1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
"The scribes and the Phariseeshave taken their seat on the chair of Moses.

Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people's shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'
As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.'
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called 'Master';
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

“Do you want to be great?” asked Saint Augustine; and he answered, “Begin with the smallest things. Do you want to build a structure of great height? First think of the foundation of lowliness.” (St. Augustine, Sermo 69, 1,2).

If we truly want to build the edifice of our sanctification, we must lay its foundation on humility. Jesus is our model. As St. Paul says, “Though He was in the form of God... He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant... He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8).

How can we not feel, how can we not be small and humble before the mystery of the Incarnation and of the Redemption, before the Son of God who cries in Bethlehem, who wraps Himself in silence in Nazareth, who lives a life of poverty, who dies on a naked cross? It is Jesus who is the first, the true humble one, the only one who has truly glorified God—indeed, God is “glorified by the humble,” as the Book of Sirach tells us (Sir 3:20)—because He humbled Himself throughout His entire existence, while also triumphantly manifesting His power as Lord. He became what He Himself defined: “meek and humble of heart.” (St. John Paul II, Homily, Innocent III Square in Anagni, 31 August 1986)