St Jerome, patron of Scripture scholars

St Jerome - Durer

A pope is said to have remarked, on seeing a picture of Jerome striking his breast with a stone, "You do well to carry that stone, for without it the Church would never have canonized you" (Butler's Lives of the Saints).

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St Jerome, 20 09 2011

St Jerome: Memorial

 

Jerome is the patron of scripture scholars and all who read the Bible on a regular basis.

 

Pope Benedict’s greatest priority is to enable the people of our time to encounter God

Benedict quotes with approval the words of St Jerome. Jerome taught that we should approach the word of God with the same attention that we receive the Eucharist. "If a crumb falls to the ground we are troubled. God's Word and Christ's flesh and blood are being poured into our ears yet we pay no heed. We are in great peril and we don’t know it."

  

Benedict XVI wants us to grow in understanding of the Bible, not only for our own sake but also for the sake of others. It is the Pope's intuition that we will not succeed in leading the people of our own day to God if we have not first encountered Him in Scripture.

  

Above: Highlights from Catholic Herald Issued Nov 11th, 2010, Verbum Domini, Apostolic Exhortation on the Bible..Extracts from Editorial: Below:

 

What is Benedict XVI's top priority? Is it the clerical abuse scandal or perhaps reforming the liturgy? Might it be fighting the "dictatorship of relativism" or seeking Christian unity? These are all major concerns of this pontificate. Yet there is another priority which Pope Benedict considers even more pressing. He explains what it is in the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, released last Thursday. "There is no greater priority," he writes, "than this: to enable the people of our time once more to encounter God, the God who speaks to us and shares his love so that we might have life in abundance." Benedict XVI has written this new document to inspire each of us ­bishops, clergy, consecrated persons, lay faithful and seekers - to meet the God who speaks in the Bible.

   

It is sometimes said that the liturgy is for Catholics and the Bible is for Protestants. This could not be further from Pope Benedict's vision in Verbum Domini. He quotes with approval the words of St Jerome, patron of Scripture scholars, who taught that we should approach the word of God with the same attention that we receive the Eucharist. "If a crumb falls to the ground we are troubled," the saint wrote. "Yet we are listening to the word of God and God's Word and Christ's flesh and blood are being poured into our ears yet we pay no heed, what great peril should we not feel?"

   

St Jerome's words indicate that the struggle to appreciate the word of God is not a new feature of Catholic history. Benedict XVI wants us to grow in understanding of the Bible, for our own sake but also for the sake of others. It is the Pope's intuition that we will not succeed in leading the people of our own day to God if we have not first encountered Him in Scripture.