Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church
First Reading
Job 9:1–12, 14–16
Job answered his friends and said:
I know well that it is so;
but how can a man be justified before God?
Should one wish to contend with him,
he could not answer him once in a thousand times.
God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has withstood him and remained unscathed?
He removes the mountains before they know it;
he overturns them in his anger.
He shakes the earth out of its place,
and the pillars beneath it tremble.
He commands the sun, and it rises not;
he seals up the stars.
He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads upon the crests of the sea.
He made the Bear and Orion,
the Pleiades and the constellations of the south;
He does great things past finding out,
marvelous things beyond reckoning.
Should he come near me, I see him not;
should he pass by, I am not aware of him;
Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay?
Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
How much less shall I give him any answer,
or choose out arguments against him!
Even though I were right, I could not answer him,
but should rather beg for what was due me.
If I appealed to him and he answered my call,
I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 88:10bc–11, 12–13, 14–15
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Daily I call upon you, O LORD;
to you I stretch out my hands.
Will you work wonders for the dead?
Will the shades arise to give you thanks?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Do they declare your mercy in the grave,
your faithfulness among those who have perished?
Are your wonders made known in the darkness,
or your justice in the land of oblivion?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
But I, O LORD, cry out to you;
with my morning prayer I wait upon you.
Why, O LORD, do you reject me;
why hide from me your face?
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
I consider all things so much rubbish
that I may gain Christ and be found in him.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Luke 9:57–62
As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
And to another he said, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”
Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Reflection
Job’s words arise from a painful awareness of the distance between human limitation and divine majesty. He looks upon mountains, earth, sun, stars and sea and sees signs of a power beyond calculation. God does “great things past finding out”, while Job cannot even perceive him passing near. Before such greatness, he feels that no argument could place him on equal terms with his Creator.
This is not the language of calm theological reflection. Job is wounded and searching. He knows that God is wise and mighty, yet he cannot understand how justice operates within his suffering. He longs to bring his case before God, but doubts whether his words would be heard. His faith has not vanished; it has entered a place where familiar answers no longer satisfy.
Scripture allows this struggle to remain visible. Job is not rebuked simply for asking difficult questions, nor is his pain covered by quick explanations. The Church teaches that the mystery of suffering and evil cannot be answered by one isolated statement. Its meaning can be approached only within the whole of Christian faith: creation, sin, covenant, the Incarnation, the Cross, the Resurrection and the hope of eternal life (CCC 309–314).
The responsorial psalm carries Job’s anguish into prayer. “Let my prayer come before you, Lord” is followed not by immediate consolation but by further questions. The psalmist wonders whether God’s mercy can be declared in the grave and asks why the Lord seems to hide his face. Yet he still cries out each morning and stretches out his hands.
This is one of Scripture’s most honest lessons about prayer. Prayer does not become false when it contains grief, confusion or even protest. The Catechism describes prayer as a covenant relationship with God, lived from the heart (CCC 2562–2564). A heart burdened by darkness may still turn towards him. Sometimes perseverance consists simply in continuing to speak when God appears silent.
The Gospel presents three encounters with people who wish to follow Jesus. Their words sound sincere, yet each encounter uncovers a condition. The first is warned that discipleship offers no guarantee of comfort or security. The second wants to delay the call until another obligation has been completed. The third intends to follow, but only after returning to what is familiar.
Jesus’ replies are deliberately uncompromising. They should not be read as contempt for burial, family or affection. Elsewhere, he upholds the commandments and shows deep compassion towards families in grief. Here he reveals the absolute priority of the kingdom. The call of Christ cannot remain indefinitely suspended behind a succession of reasonable postponements.
The repeated word “first” exposes the heart of the problem. “Let me go first.” “Let me say farewell first.” Each speaker is willing to follow Jesus after retaining control over the timing and terms. Christ calls for a response in which he is not merely added to an already settled life, but becomes its centre.
Job and the Gospel meet at this point. Job confronts a God whom he cannot control or fully comprehend. The would-be disciples encounter a Lord who will not fit neatly around their preferred conditions. Both readings ask whether faith can continue when God refuses to be reduced to our expectations.
The Gospel Acclamation supplies the answer: everything else becomes secondary when compared with gaining Christ and being found in him. Christian discipleship is not the rejection of everything good, but the reordering of every good around Christ. The Catechism teaches that following Jesus requires the willingness to place him before possessions, relationships and even life itself—not because these things lack value, but because their deepest meaning is found in him (CCC 2544–2547).
Saint Jerome lived this demanding attentiveness to Christ through a lifelong devotion to Scripture. His scholarship was not merely intellectual labour. He believed that the sacred writings draw us into knowledge of the living Lord. The Church therefore urges all Christians to acquire a rich knowledge of Scripture, since it is through the inspired word that God continues to address his people (CCC 101–104, 131–133).
Jerome’s life also reminds us that serious discipleship is rarely effortless. He could be forceful, impatient and difficult, yet he continued submitting his intelligence, language and labour to the service of God’s word. Holiness did not mean that his personality disappeared. It meant allowing grace to redirect his gifts towards Christ and the Church.
To set a hand to the plough is to face forward and work the ground immediately before us. Constantly looking behind makes the furrow crooked. Jesus asks for attention that is undivided—not because the past must be despised, but because the kingdom is calling us into faithful action now.
We may still carry unanswered questions, as Job did. We may feel that God is hidden, as the psalmist did. We may recognise that our commitment has been surrounded by conditions and delays. None of this prevents us from responding today. We can bring our questions honestly into prayer, listen more deeply to Scripture and take the next step Christ places before us.
One line to carry today:
Following Christ begins when we stop setting conditions and entrust the next step to him.
