30 September 2021
Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church
In the first reading today from book of Nehemiah, we hear about the reestablishment, or recommitment, to the covenant between God and the Jewish people after they returned from the Babylonian captivity. Our passage describes the great feast of booths, and we hear of the reading of the Law of Moses, which was probably the first time this law had been read and proclaimed in many years in Jerusalem. In a sense, this reading describes the joy that follows repentance and a turning of one’s heart back to the Lord. The people have been led by Ezra to this turning back to the Lord and his commandments, and to the hearing the Lord’s word in Scripture.
On this memorial of St. Jerome – the translator of the Vulgate – it is a reminder for us to give thanks for the great gift of God’s word and those who have labored to transmit it, pass it on, and explain it to us and others so that we might be enriched, our hearts converted, and our joy enriched by the hearing of God’s word. As we pray and listen to the Word today, let us join with the ancient Israelites in their gesture of reverence, their feast of Joy, and their delight in hearing and praying with the Words of God.