St Jerome Worked
Today is St Jerome's feast day. St Jerome translated the Bible into Latin. You may know this, but think about it: the Bible!
Yesterday I worked pretty hard. As a matter of fact, most days I work pretty hard. Maybe you do too. But no matter how much I had to study or research, no matter how much I had to write, somehow it seems to pale when I think about St Jerome translating the Bible.
Like a lot of saints, Jerome went through a period where his faith wasn't all that strong. Living at the time of the Roman Empire, he liked city life. Religion just didn't do it for him when he was a young man. Then all that changed.
Just like He did with Saint Augustine, God - by His grace - changed Jerome. Maybe it was the translation of the Bible into Latin that He had in mind when He turned Jerome's heart. Of course, I have no idea.
One thing I do know is that Augustine and Jerome lived around the same time. They even disputed with each other over their differing understanding of St Paul's epistle to the Galatians. Imagine two saints going at it over their interpretation of the Bible! Then again, they were human, just like us, right? Sometimes we forget.
So back to St Jerome's translation of the Bible. What struck me this year was the fact that we're getting a new translation of the English text used at Mass for the Novus Ordo. That's coming sometime next year, and from what I've seen it'll be a Godsend. The thing is, it'll be more faithful to that Latin translation St Jerome made centuries ago.
Now, just think about that. St Jerome, back in the 4th century, translates the Bible into Latin. And now, in the 21st Century, we're going to improve our own English translations by making them more faithful to Jerome's translation.
So all that hard work he put into translating the Bible still makes a difference centuries later.
And all this has me thinking about my own work.
I'm pretty sure no one's going to read anything I've written centuries from now. But that's not the way to think about this. I don't know if St Jerome thought about his translation being so important centuries later. Far as I know, he just put his heart and soul into his work in service to God.
So that's more how I'm thinking about all of us and our work as Catholic men working in the service of God. That's how we all need to work, right? We work for his greater glory.
Maybe you're not doing something monumental like translating the Bible. I can tell you for sure there's nothing monumental about my work. But we're here, now, born into this time and place, working for the greater glory of God, no matter what we do.
And here on St Jerome's feast day (I'm hoping I get to Mass to honor him today) I'm thinking of that guy in the 4th century and all he did - all that hard work, day after day, translating the Word of God. Talk about responsibility! And I'm thinking too of how he must have had his good and bad days, just like we all do.
Finally, I'm thinking that, on those days when the very idea of translating the Bible - the Bible! - might have seemed like a gargantuan assignment, maybe too much for one guy to do - how St Jerome might have just put all his trust in God. Or maybe one day when he wasn't feeling all that great, he just picked up his pen and started writing, whether he felt like it or not. He just put his feelings aside and got down to work.
Anyway, whatever you do, let's remember St Jerome today and thank God for all his good work. And then, gents, let's all get back to our jobs to do our own good work for this September 30th 2010.
Yesterday I worked pretty hard. As a matter of fact, most days I work pretty hard. Maybe you do too. But no matter how much I had to study or research, no matter how much I had to write, somehow it seems to pale when I think about St Jerome translating the Bible.
Like a lot of saints, Jerome went through a period where his faith wasn't all that strong. Living at the time of the Roman Empire, he liked city life. Religion just didn't do it for him when he was a young man. Then all that changed.
Just like He did with Saint Augustine, God - by His grace - changed Jerome. Maybe it was the translation of the Bible into Latin that He had in mind when He turned Jerome's heart. Of course, I have no idea.
One thing I do know is that Augustine and Jerome lived around the same time. They even disputed with each other over their differing understanding of St Paul's epistle to the Galatians. Imagine two saints going at it over their interpretation of the Bible! Then again, they were human, just like us, right? Sometimes we forget.
So back to St Jerome's translation of the Bible. What struck me this year was the fact that we're getting a new translation of the English text used at Mass for the Novus Ordo. That's coming sometime next year, and from what I've seen it'll be a Godsend. The thing is, it'll be more faithful to that Latin translation St Jerome made centuries ago.
Now, just think about that. St Jerome, back in the 4th century, translates the Bible into Latin. And now, in the 21st Century, we're going to improve our own English translations by making them more faithful to Jerome's translation.
So all that hard work he put into translating the Bible still makes a difference centuries later.
And all this has me thinking about my own work.
I'm pretty sure no one's going to read anything I've written centuries from now. But that's not the way to think about this. I don't know if St Jerome thought about his translation being so important centuries later. Far as I know, he just put his heart and soul into his work in service to God.
So that's more how I'm thinking about all of us and our work as Catholic men working in the service of God. That's how we all need to work, right? We work for his greater glory.
Maybe you're not doing something monumental like translating the Bible. I can tell you for sure there's nothing monumental about my work. But we're here, now, born into this time and place, working for the greater glory of God, no matter what we do.
And here on St Jerome's feast day (I'm hoping I get to Mass to honor him today) I'm thinking of that guy in the 4th century and all he did - all that hard work, day after day, translating the Word of God. Talk about responsibility! And I'm thinking too of how he must have had his good and bad days, just like we all do.
Finally, I'm thinking that, on those days when the very idea of translating the Bible - the Bible! - might have seemed like a gargantuan assignment, maybe too much for one guy to do - how St Jerome might have just put all his trust in God. Or maybe one day when he wasn't feeling all that great, he just picked up his pen and started writing, whether he felt like it or not. He just put his feelings aside and got down to work.
Anyway, whatever you do, let's remember St Jerome today and thank God for all his good work. And then, gents, let's all get back to our jobs to do our own good work for this September 30th 2010.
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