25th Week, Saturday, Sept 30, Saint Jerome
Zechariah 2:5-9, 14-15 / Luke 9:43-45
God speaks through Zechariah; I am coming to dwell among you.
In the course of history, God has lived among us in three temples: his cosmic temple of creation, the man-made Temple of Jerusalem, and the living temple of his Son’s body. First, God lived among us in his cosmic temple. He indwells all creation, holding it in existence much as a film projector holds in existence figures on a movie screen. Next, God lived among us in the dazzling light of [his) presence” in Israel's Temple. (Exodus 40:34, 1 Kings 8:11). Finally, God lived among us in the living temple of his Son's body. “Jesus] was speaking about the temple of his body.” John 2:21
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Where do we sense God's presence most clearly among us in our own day? "The Church is Christ's body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.” Ephesians 1:23
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The prophet Zechariah gives us today a vision of joy, hope and universalism. The rebuilding of the Temple and of Jerusalem after the exile assures that God lives in the midst of his people and that many nations will find God there, among his people. They must be an open people, without walls, for God himself will protect them.
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Whenever we talk about a house, we would imagine it as having walls that would determine its size and boundaries. Who can ever imagine a house that is without walls? What kind of security would that house have? So, it would certainly surprise us when we heard in the 1st reading that Jerusalem was to remain unwalled. What kind of city would that be if it is without walls for protection and security? Yet the Lord was quick to add that He would be the wall of fire for her, all around her, and He would be the glory of the city. Indeed, if the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain would its watchmen keep vigil, and in vain would its stone walls offer any protection.
Jesus said in the gospel that He would be handed over into the power of men. Yet Jesus also knew that His security and protection will be on God alone and that God will save Him out of death and raise Him back to life. May we also know that if God does not watch over us, then all other physical means of protection will be in vain.
With God in our midst and watching over us and protecting us, let us give thanks, let us sing, let us rejoice in the Lord our Saviour.
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“They did not understand it at all,” says the gospel about the disciples, when Jesus told them about his coming passion. Jesus speaks of himself as the “Son of Man,” the mysterious person of heavenly origin predicted by Daniel. “He must be delivered up,” for he is also the Suffering Servant of the songs of Second Isaiah. Indeed, all this, about one who comes from God, is a servant, and has to suffer and die, is hard to reconcile and accept, at least from the human viewpoint. And to be told to follow his example is difficult to take too.
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"He will be delivered into the hands of men". Hands are meant for work, and to be joined in greeting and prayer, to be raised in blessing, to be used to help and to heal. And yet, they are used to strangle and hit, to grasp greedily at power and wealth; they are made into a fist and raised in perjury. We should know from the son of man, how hands are to be used. He gave human hands dignity through his hard work as a carpenter. He used them to touch the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and the tongues of the dumb. His hands touched the lepers. He held the hands of the young man at Nain and the daughter of Jairus and raised them to life. And yet, he was delivered into the hands of men. They laid on him a crown of thorns. They struck him. They nailed Him to the Cross. The hands of God have made heaven and earth. He has the whole world in his hands. Yet he was delivered into the hands of men.
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Opening Prayer
Lord our God, you chose for your new people no one else than the people set free by the blood of your Son. How can we be your sign among the nations unless you are alive in our midst in our welcome to all, our peace, our spirit of service, our love without boundaries? Make us capable of all these, Lord, by the saving power of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
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Saint Jerome
Feast day September 30
Jerome was a man of extremes. His real name was Eusebius Hieronymus Sophronius. He lived to age 91 even though he undertook extreme penances. Jerome had a fierce temper but an equally intense love of Christ.
This brilliant saint was born in Eastern Europe around 345. His Christian family sent him to Rome at age 12 for a good education. He studied there until he was 20. Then he and his friends lived in a small monastery for three years, until the group dissolved. Jerome set out for Palestine, but when he reached Antioch, he fell seriously ill. He dreamt one night that he was taken before the judgment seat of God and condemned for being a heretic. This dream made a deep impression on him.
Although Jerome wished to study rather than to be a priest, he was ordained. Again he tried the life of a monk in the desert, but impure temptations plagued him. To fight them, he studied Hebrew, wrote letters counseling friends in the spiritual life, and copied books. Finally, Jerome moved to Constantinople. He studied Scripture under the Greek theologian Gregory Nazianzen. Pope Damasus summoned him to Rome and had him translate the Bible into Latin, a 30-year task. His translation, called the Vulgate, became the official text of the Catholic Church.
Jerome was strong willed. His writings, especially those opposing what he considered heresy, were sometimes explosive. His temperament helped him do difficult tasks, but it also made him enemies. Jerome was named a Doctor of the Church for the Vulgate, his commentaries on Scripture, his writings on monastic life, and his belief that during a controversy on theological opinions, the See of Rome was where the matter should be settled.
Jerome also guided a group of Christian widows who were practicing a semimonastic life. Gossip about his spending so much time with women led Jerome to move to Bethlehem. There, Jerome trained Paula and Eustochium to be Scripture scholars and to assist him.
