And our Doctor of the Day is St. Jerome.
St. Jerome was born around 342 and died sometime around 420. His greatest contribution is that he translated the Hebrew and Greek Bible into Latin, which was then translated into English. He is known as Father of Biblical Science because he provided an expansive commentary on the Bible; and we celebrate his feast day on Sept 30.
Jerome as born into a Christian family and was blessed with a great education. He lived as a hermit in the desert for the time perfectly his knowledge of Greek, Hebrew and Latin; and also growing deeper in his relationship with God through his praying with the Scriptures. In 382 he moved to Rome and became a counselor and secretary to Pope Damasus. It was this Pope that asked Jerome to produce a Latin translation of the Bible- which he did. We call his translation The Vulgate- the first Latin translation of the Bible. But Jerome wasn’t just a scholar of the Bible, he was also a fervent pray-er and he loved to pray with the Word of God. What great depth of relationship he discovered as he entered into the Word! No doubt he learned things about himself and God and Jesus and his own relationship to Him that we was unable to ascertain from another place or method. Jerome was the first to realize that Scripture, the Word of God, is a message from God the Father to each individual person- it is a message to each heart! St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” He has a point: how much do we really know about what is contained in the Word of God. People ask me all the time: How do I get to know Jesus better? My amswer: God to the Gospels! All the answers are right there. That's where the relationship with Jesus starts.
From St. Lawrence of Brindisi: “The Word of God is a light to the mind and a fire to the will. It enables us to know God and to love Him.”
Let’s ask St. Jerome to pray for us today. May he inspire in us a true love for the Word of God, Sacred Scripture, and commit ourselves to reading the daily readings and ask the Lord to teach, inspire and convert our hearts, drawing us into a deeper relationship with Him and with the people we love. Amen.
Have a good day.
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