Daily Collection taken from the Memorial of St. Jerome, Doctor of the Church
Collect: O God, who gave the Priest Saint Jerome a living and tender love for Sacred Scripture, grant that your people may be ever more fruitfully nourished by your Word and find in it the fount of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son…
“O God, who gave the Priest Saint Jerome a living and tender love for Sacred Scripture”
— We see that the gift of Scripture is so great, that even the ability to love it is a gift. This also reminds us that we all good things come from God and that the ability to love Scripture is a grace and a great gift indeed.
“grant that your people may be ever more fruitfully nourished by your Word and find in it the fount of life.”
— Our request to God is not only that we are nourished by scripture for ourselves, but that this nourishment is fruitful, as in that it shows in our lives and overflows into our love for God and man. Notice also that Scripture itself is not the fount of life, but the place in which we find the fount, Jesus Christ. Scripture is the living Word which, together with tradition, enables us to be in contact with Jesus Christ, the Word and Son of God.
Advice: Do you love Scripture? How many words do you read each day via text messages, twitter, facebook, and online news? How much of that is fruitful and beneficial? It would be good to re-purpose some of that time to reading the Good News. Pray for the gift to love scripture and start small. Even if you “feel nothing,” promise to read a little bit each day; a verse or a chapter. Start tonight! The love will come if you are patient. St. Jerome famously said “read assiduously and learn as much as you can. Let sleep find you holding your Bible, and when your head nods let it be resting on the sacred page.” So even if you fall asleep reading it, it is not in vain!
If you know scripture well, however, it is worth considering if that love is sincere. Do not fall into the trap of memorizing small quotes to use as weapons in a war of pride against sinners who are beneath you! If it does not lead to love of God and neighbor, it is not fruitful and it is not of God.
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| Saint Jerome, pray for us! |