Monday, 30 September 2013
Monday of the Twenty-sixth week in Ordinary TimeSt. Jerome, Priest & Doctor of the Church (c. 340- c. 420) - Memorial
Most of the saints are remembered for some outstanding virtue or devotion which they practiced, but Jerome is frequently remembered for his bad temper! It is true that he had a very bad temper and could use a vitriolic pen, but his love for God and his Son Jesus Christ was extraordinarily intense; anyone who taught error was an enemy of God and truth, and St. Jerome went after him or her with his mighty and sometimes sarcastic pen.
He was above all a Scripture scholar, translating most of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. He also wrote commentaries which are a great source of scriptural inspiration for us today. He was an avid student, a thorough scholar, a prodigious letter-writer and a consultant to monk, bishop and pope. St. Augustine (August 28) said of him, "What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known."
St. Jerome is particularly important for having made a translation of the Bible which came to be called the Vulgate. It is not the most critical edition of the Bible, but its acceptance by the Church was fortunate. As a modern scholar says, "No man before Jerome or among his contemporaries and very few men for many centuries afterwards were so well qualified to do the work." The Council of Trent called for a new and corrected edition of the Vulgate, and declared it the authentic text to be used in the Church.
In order to be able to do such work, Jerome prepared himself well. He was a master of Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Chaldaic. He began his studies at his birthplace, Stridon in Dalmatia (in the former Yugoslavia). After his preliminary education he went to Rome, the center of learning at that time, and thence to Trier, Germany, where the scholar was very much in evidence. He spent several years in each place, always trying to find the very best teachers. He once served as private secretary of Pope Damasus (December 11).
After these preparatory studies he traveled extensively in Palestine, marking each spot of Christ's life with an outpouring of devotion. Mystic that he was, he spent five years in the desert of Chalcis so that he might give himself up to prayer, penance and study. Finally he settled in Bethlehem, where he lived in the cave believed to have been the birthplace of Christ. On September 30 in the year 420, Jerome died in Bethlehem. The remains of his body now lie buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
Comment:
Jerome was a strong, outspoken man. He had the virtues and the unpleasant fruits of being a fearless critic and all the usual moral problems of a man. He was, as someone has said, no admirer of moderation whether in virtue or against evil. He was swift to anger, but also swift to feel remorse, even more severe on his own shortcomings than on those of others. A pope is said to have remarked, on seeing a picture of Jerome striking his breast with a stone, "You do well to carry that stone, for without it the Church would never have canonized you" (Butler's Lives of the Saints).
Jerome was a strong, outspoken man. He had the virtues and the unpleasant fruits of being a fearless critic and all the usual moral problems of a man. He was, as someone has said, no admirer of moderation whether in virtue or against evil. He was swift to anger, but also swift to feel remorse, even more severe on his own shortcomings than on those of others. A pope is said to have remarked, on seeing a picture of Jerome striking his breast with a stone, "You do well to carry that stone, for without it the Church would never have canonized you" (Butler's Lives of the Saints).
Quote:
"In the remotest part of a wild and stony desert, burnt up with the heat of the scorching sun so that it frightens even the monks that inhabit it, I seemed to myself to be in the midst of the delights and crowds of Rome. In this exile and prison to which for the fear of hell I had voluntarily condemned myself, I many times imagined myself witnessing the dancing of the Roman maidens as if I had been in the midst of them: In my cold body and in my parched-up flesh, which seemed dead before its death, passion was able to live. Alone with this enemy, I threw myself in spirit at the feet of Jesus, watering them with my tears, and I tamed my flesh by fasting whole weeks. I am not ashamed to disclose my temptations, but I grieve that I am not now what I then was" ("Letter to St. Eustochium").
"In the remotest part of a wild and stony desert, burnt up with the heat of the scorching sun so that it frightens even the monks that inhabit it, I seemed to myself to be in the midst of the delights and crowds of Rome. In this exile and prison to which for the fear of hell I had voluntarily condemned myself, I many times imagined myself witnessing the dancing of the Roman maidens as if I had been in the midst of them: In my cold body and in my parched-up flesh, which seemed dead before its death, passion was able to live. Alone with this enemy, I threw myself in spirit at the feet of Jesus, watering them with my tears, and I tamed my flesh by fasting whole weeks. I am not ashamed to disclose my temptations, but I grieve that I am not now what I then was" ("Letter to St. Eustochium").
Patron Saint of: Librarians
Zech. 8:1-8.
This word of the LORD of hosts came: Thus says the LORD of hosts:
I am intensely jealous for Zion, stirred to jealous wrath for her.
Thus says the LORD: I will return to Zion, and I will dwell within Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women, each with staff in hand because of old age, shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem.
The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in her streets.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Even if this should seem impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people, shall it in those days be impossible in my eyes also, says the LORD of hosts?
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun, and from the land of the setting sun.
I will bring them back to dwell within Jerusalem. They shall be my people, and I will be their God, with faithfulness and justice.
I am intensely jealous for Zion, stirred to jealous wrath for her.
Thus says the LORD: I will return to Zion, and I will dwell within Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women, each with staff in hand because of old age, shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem.
The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in her streets.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Even if this should seem impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people, shall it in those days be impossible in my eyes also, says the LORD of hosts?
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun, and from the land of the setting sun.
I will bring them back to dwell within Jerusalem. They shall be my people, and I will be their God, with faithfulness and justice.
Ps 102(101):16-18.19-21.29.22-23.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
And all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
And appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
And not despised their prayer.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
And let his future creatures praise the LORD:
"The LORD looked down from his holy height,
From heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
To release those doomed to die."
The children of your servants shall abide,
And their posterity shall continue in your presence,
That the name of the LORD may be declared on Zion;
And his praise, in Jerusalem,
When the peoples gather together
And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
Luke 9:46-50.
And all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
And appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
And not despised their prayer.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
And let his future creatures praise the LORD:
"The LORD looked down from his holy height,
From heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
To release those doomed to die."
The children of your servants shall abide,
And their posterity shall continue in your presence,
That the name of the LORD may be declared on Zion;
And his praise, in Jerusalem,
When the peoples gather together
And the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
Luke 9:46-50.
An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest.
Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."
Then John said in reply, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company."
Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."
Then John said in reply, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company."
Jesus said to him, "Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."
Sometime I thought that when someone retweeted things I put on Twitter or liked stuff I posted on Facebook but now I realize Jesus was not 100% correct when He said, "Whoever is not against you is for you.."
It doesn't necessarily work like that today. People are so opinionated and their opinions change.
Gone are the days when the world was populated with principled people.
You just have to look at the last election and wonder how anyone could have voted for some of the frauds passing themselves off as representatives of the community.
It is clear than many were seeking glory for themselves and pretending to be something that they were not.
Today, make a decision to be a person who stands for something. Make a resolution to make the world a better place by your actions towards those who speak to and about...
Vatican Council II
Declaration on the Church's relations with non Christian religions «Nostra Aetate », 5
We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God (Gn 1,27). Man's relation to God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so linked together that Scripture says: "He who does not love does not know God" (1Jn 4,8).
No foundation therefore remains for any theory or practice that leads to discrimination between man and man or people and people, so far as their human dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned.
The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or religion. On the contrary, following in the footsteps of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, this sacred synod ardently implores the Christian faithful to "maintain good fellowship among the nations" (1Pt 2,12), and, “if it is possible, to live for their part in peace with all men”,(Rm 12,18) so that they may truly be “sons of the Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5,45).
No foundation therefore remains for any theory or practice that leads to discrimination between man and man or people and people, so far as their human dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned.
The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or religion. On the contrary, following in the footsteps of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, this sacred synod ardently implores the Christian faithful to "maintain good fellowship among the nations" (1Pt 2,12), and, “if it is possible, to live for their part in peace with all men”,(Rm 12,18) so that they may truly be “sons of the Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5,45).
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