The prophet Zechariah, preaching after the return from the Babylonian Exile, during the construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, proclaims God’s message of hope. To those who had suffered under the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians, Zechariah tells them to remember whom they serve, and indeed proclaims that one day, nations from all over the world will ask to join them in serving the one true God. It is not in the moments of defeat and humiliation that one senses God’s presence. And yet it is precisely into such a moment that the prophet Zechariah was sent, to proclaim to those in need of hope: God is with you!
The abiding presence of God with the lowly, the downtrodden, the suffering bearers of His promises throughout a long and complicated history is precisely what one needs to understand in order to understand who Jesus is. For this reason, Saint Jerome, at the request of Pope Damasus, devoted most of his life to improving the translation of the Bible and to writing extensive commentaries on Scripture. To this day, his labors offer a bridge to understanding the Old and New Testaments more and more profoundly. It was not easy. Jerome gave up many things in order to devote himself to the Word of God. He gave up the comforts of life in a city, instead choosing to live and labor in solitude in an area close to Bethlehem. He gave up the comfort of life close to home, spending years in study of the Hebrew language in the Holy Land far from his native Dalmatia (modern day Bosnia).
Let us ask Saint Jerome to pray for us, that we may make time every day to read and study the Word of God, let it touch our hearts, and put it into practice in the love we show our neighbor.