Saints: Saint Jerome, Priest, Doctor (340-420)
Readings of the Day
Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 7:31-33 Humility
Mass: Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5; Resp Ps 139; Lk 10:13-16
O Lord, you have probed me and you know me.
MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,
MARY, COMPANION OF THE SORROWFUL,
PRAY FOR US.
Welcome to Friday and the last day of September 2022. On this day we conclude our month dedicated to the Sorrowful Mother. We look especially to Mary, most sorrowful mother, and ask her to pray for us. We remember too something Saint Rafael Arnaiz wrote: "You often say, 'All for Jesus.' Why not add, 'All for Jesus, and to Jesus through Mary?'" What are your favorite invocations to Mary from the Litany of the Sorrowful Mother? My favorites include, Mary, rock of constancy, and Mary, protectress of all who fight. On the other hand, all of the invocations will do just fine. ☺
We have another great saint to commemorate today, Saint Jerome*. Among other things, he, with the help of Saint Paula and company, founded a monastery, a hospice, and a school in Bethlehem. Saint Jerome was also busy translating the Bible into Latin, the translation we know as the Vulgate, a translation “with some revisions” still in use today. This project took 15 years or so. All in a day's work. And Saint Jerome is regarded as the patron saint of those with difficult personalities. Apparently, he had one. lol. We turn to Saint Jerome then, and to one of his commentaries on the Book of Isaiah. You will find this in the Prologue (included in Office of Readings, September 30).
I interpret as I should, following the command of Christ: Search the Scriptures, and Seek and you shall find ...For is, as Paul says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and the wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.
United in faith and prayer, we seek the power of God and the wisdom of God through our reading and study of and reflection on Scripture. Blessed indeed is he who ponders the law of the Lord day and night: he will yield fruit in due season (Entrance Antiphon, Mass). What is your favorite Book of the Bible? This was a question posed to me and my classmates some years ago in a course, Introduction to the Bible. At the time, I did not know my favorite Book, but I did know some of my favorite stories. Then I found myself teaching the course years later and I asked the students the same question. In any case, go to your favorite Book in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament too, or at least to a favorite story or passage. What is God saying to you?
Here are a few of my favorite stories/passages from the Bible, the first three favorites since childhood.
Make yourself an ark of gopherwood, put various compartments in it, and cover it inside and out with pitch ...
"Go into the ark, you and your household, for you alone in this age I have found to be truly just. Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs ...
(Genesis 5:14; 7:1-2)
Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic ...
(Genesis 37:3)
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord swept the sea with a strong east wind throughout the night and so it turned into dry land. When the water was thus divided, the Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with water like a wall to their right and to their left ...
(Exodus, 14:21-22)
But Ruth said, "Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! for wherever you will go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there be buried ...
(Ruth 1:15-17)
Judith threw herself down prostrate, with ashes strewn upon her head, and wearing nothing but sackcloth ...
(Judith 9:1)
Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish, likewise had recourse to the Lord. Taking off her splendid garments, she put on garments of distress and mourning. In place of her precious ointments she covered herself with dirt and ashes ...
(Esther C:12-13)
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.
(Matt 1:16)
Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
(Ph 4:4-7)
SAINT JEROME,
SAINT PAULA,
PRAY FOR US.
*NB. Saint Jerome is one of the four great Doctors of the Western Church. Saint Jerome joins Saint Ambrose of Milan (339-397), Saint Augustine (354-430), and Pope Saint Gregory the Great (540-604). The four great Doctors of the Eastern Church are Saint Athanasius (296/8-373), Saint Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Saint John Chrysostom (347-407), and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390).
Today's photo: From a September camping trip to the Metolius River, Central Oregon. Thank you, Catherine. Wonderful are your works.
© Gertrude Feick 2022
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