Thursday, September 30, 2010

Don't suffer fools gladly.


The Catholic faith recognizes feast days to celebrate the lives of the various Saints of the Catholic church. Today, Sept. 30, is the feast day of St. Jerome.  He was a monk, priest, hermit, mystic, and Doctor of the Church. St. Jerome also was a multi-lingual Scripture scholar who labored over a long period of time to translate the Bible from the original Hebrew language at the request of the Pope. His final product came to be known as The Vulgate. Jerome was well-studied and highly respected. St. Augustine said of him, “What Jerome is ignorant of, no mortal has ever known.”



Catholics also believe that just as you might ask a friend to pray for you, we can also ask those who have already left this life to pray for us. In the Catechism of the Catholic Faith, Part 4, Article 3, Topic 2683 GUIDES FOR PRAYER: “The witnesses who have preceded us into the kingdom, especially those whom the Church recognizes as saints, shar in the living tradition of prayer by the example of their lives, the transmission of their writings, and their prayer today. They contemplate God, praise Him, and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth . . . We can and should ask them to intercede for us and the whole world.”

The Catechism, Topic 956, also explains the Catholic belief of Intercessory prayer: “Being more closely united to Christ, those who dwell in heaven fix the whole Church more firmly in holiness  . . . They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us, as they proffer the merits which they acquired on earth through the one mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus . . . So by their fraternal concern is our weakness greatly helped.”

By all accounts, St. Jerome was not one to “suffer fools gladly.” He was profoundly intolerant of anything but the truth. And he loved the Bible greatly.

So in following another Catholic tradition, I shall seek the aid of St. Jerome to pray for me as I continue on my study of the Bible. I will try to keep his example in mind to always seek the truth. I will enlist his prayers to be joined with mine as I seek the wisdom required to understand the message God wants me to hear through the Scriptures. St. Jerome, please pray for me!

1 comment:

  1. Reading this has made me so happy!!! I have often ask Tommy's friends who have past for their help in guidance, to intercede for me.

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