Wednesday of the 26th week in Ordinary Time Year A, 30th September, 2020. The Memorial of St. Jerome

 Readings:  Job 9:1-12.15-16, Ps. 88, Like 9:57-62

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LORD, I WILL FOLLOW YOU BUT…

The path to success is so rigorous, strenuous and competitive. The strong pass through it and are celebrated, while the weak will always quit or give up. Hence, a lot of people have not been able to achieve their goal in life because, there are always excuses to give. Oftentimes we hear such people saying I want to do this but.., I could have done it but..., I thought of it but… I was almost there but... 

This kind of attitude is what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today, when he said to someone, ‘Follow me’, the man replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’ Than another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

Here, Jesus is emphasizing that following him requires a life of total self-denial and the man who requested to follow Jesus had not reflect thoroughly what following Jesus would entail. So Jesus made it clear that following him would mean giving up many of the personal comforts that he enjoyed and perhaps took for granted. However, it may seems that the Lord Jesus was very harsh when he said that those who have chosen to follow him and looked back were not fit for the kingdom of God or that those who died ought to be left on their own to be buried. This is not the case here, rather Jesus is emphasizing that to be his follower requires serious commitment and sacrifices at  all times.

And this is what we see in the life of Job in our first reading where we heard how Job, although was suffering and was passing through many troubles, friends who abandoned him and even accused him of wrongdoing, but he remained committed to God in righteousness without blaming neither God nor the people for his misfortunes. Thereby teaching each and every one of us how to respond and react in the moment of trials and difficulties.

And today, as we celebrate the memorial of St. Jerome, which marked the sixteen centuries that he had passed on, we recall his great contributions to the Church and the Christian faithful especially for his compilation of the Latin translation of the Greek Bible. Jerome who involved and experiencing all sorts of worldly pleasures as a young student of philosophy. But later his conscience led him to conversion into the Christian faith as he renounced all of his past sinful ways of life and devoted himself deeply into the study of the Scriptures, from which comes all his great works we still study today.

Dear friends, for us to succeed in life we need to pass through some rigorous steps and stop making excuses. Sometimes the rigorousness of the paths may seem difficult and impossible but at the end they form the experience that will propel us to success and sustain us as well.  So as we journey through the rigorous path of success in our mission and vocations, let us be encouraged by the life of  Job and St Jerome, knowing that none of our sacrifices and contribution in the mission of Christ and his Church will be in vain.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, teach us how to faithfully embrace our vocation and mission in life without making excuses.  And through the intercession of St. Jerome may we be ever more nourished by your word and find in it the fount of grace to journey the path of life, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed day.