St.Jerome, Feast
Readings:
Zechariah 2:5-9
Luke 9:43-45
Reflection
With everyone expressing admiration for what they saw Jesus doing, he cautioned his disciples not to get carried away. Storm clouds were gathering. Things were not going to end well. But the disciples could not see what Jesus could see, and Luke says, they were too afraid to ask him to explain it.
Often we hear people say, “I never saw that coming” and just as often there are others who will say, “it was all so clear”. The trouble is we don’t always see things as they are. We see them as we are!
We will always be wiser if we listen to those who think differently, and especially if we listen to ‘wisdom people’; those who read the signs of the times, not as alarmists, but as truth-seekers.
It is suggested that one sign of St Jerome’s wisdom, was that he chose to be a hermit, because he was highly impatient with others. By making this choice both they and he lived far more happily than they might have otherwise done! One commentator suggested that Jerome would not have become a saint if he had not become a hermit!
Jerome once advised wisely , “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best”.
He was a master of five languages and used his talent to allow many people to read his Latin translation of the Bible in a language they could understand. There must have been people who thought Jerome was wasting his time, reading and studying as a hermit. Maybe they were too afraid to ask what he could see?
Brian Traynor CP has been involved in faith formation for many years especially in the form of parish missions and through the Passionist Family Group Movement. Brian is a member of the Passionist community at Holy Cross, Templestowe.