- First Reading: Job 9:1–12, 14–16
- Responsorial Psalm: Ps 88:10bc–11, 12–13, 14–15
- Gospel: Luke 9:57–62
Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Jerome. He is probably best known for translating the Scriptures into Latin, and for that famous saying: “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”
But if you spend much time reading the Fathers of the Church, including Jerome’s own writings, something else stands out: he had a really bad temper. He seems to have struggled with it throughout his life. It comes through in his writings, and other Fathers of the Church mention it as well.
I think that makes him particularly fitting for today’s Gospel. The people Christ calls to follow him respond in reasonable ways: “I’ve got this other thing I need to finish first, and then I’ll follow you.” They want to take care of one last thing so that their minds and hearts can be focused on following Christ. And yet he rejects their excuses. He says, “No. Follow me.”
We all have that tendency. God calls us to do something, and we want to say, “Okay, I will. But first, let me finish these few things. Let me get better at this one part of my life. Let me draw a little closer to perfection so that I know I can follow you and accomplish what you’re asking.”
But that is a mistake. When Christ calls us, he calls us exactly as we are. He knows the work we have left unfinished. He knows that our very souls are unfinished. And yet he calls us anyway.
He isn’t saying, “Let’s make you perfect first, and then you can do what I’m asking.” The path to perfection lies in the very call he gives us. If we say no, if we insist on taking more time to get everything in order before we follow him, we will miss the very opportunity he is giving us to grow.
So when Christ reaches out to us, we cannot say, “No, I’ve got some things to work on,” or, “No, I’m not good enough yet.” We say yes, and we go.
When Christ called Saint Jerome, he didn’t say, “You’ve got a bit of a temper. Fix that, and then follow me.” He called him to follow, and he would help him work through that temper throughout his life. The same is true for each of us.
When we hear God’s call, our answer needs to be yes: “Yes, I will follow you.” And then we go. He will help us along the way to take care of what needs attention and bring to perfection what still needs to be fixed. Our responsibility is to say yes and follow him.