September 30: Saint Jerome / San Jerónimo

How well do we know Jesus? If we’re honest with ourselves, most of us will say: we don’t know Jesus anywhere near as well as we would like to know Him. The desire is there, but life gets in the way, right? There are times when we seem to be making great progress, and other times when we wonder if we know Him at all.

St. Jerome was an early priest, theologian, and historian of the Church, who translated the entire Bible into Latin. His translation is known as the “Vulgate” (that is, “for the people”). One of the primary reasons he undertook the translation of the entire book was that he wanted to know Jesus better and he wanted others to be able to do the same!

St. Jerome famously said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” So, in every area of his life he tried to know Jesus better, especially by becoming intimately familiar with the Scriptures. St. Jerome’s contribution to the Church was so phenomenal that he was named a Doctor of the Church. His efforts made it possible for thousands of Catholics in his time (and millions in the centuries after) to get to know Jesus. Will anyone know Jesus better today because of us?

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Hoy, 30 de septiembre, la Iglesia Católica celebra a San Jerónimo, traductor de la Biblia, sacerdote, y Doctor de la Iglesia (al lado de San Agustín y San Gregorio). Los libros de las Sagradas Escrituras están originalmente escritos en tres grandes lenguas: el hebreo, el arameo, y el griego. A la traducción hecha por San Jerónimo (en latín) se le conoce como “Vulgata” (es decir “edición para el pueblo”), la que ha sido considerada por siglos como la versión oficial de la Biblia para la Iglesia Católica.

Según San Jerónimo: “Ama la sagrada Escritura, y la sabiduría te amará; ámala tiernamente, y te custodiará; hónrala y recibirás sus caricias.” Y “Como dice el Apóstol San Pablo, Cristo es el poder de Dios y la sabiduría de Dios, y el que no conoce las Escrituras no conoce el poder de Dios ni su sabiduría, de ahí se sigue que ignorar las Escrituras es ignorar a Cristo.”