30 September 2016
Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church
“O LORD, you have probed me and you know me…” (Ps 139:1)
After all his sufferings, and rather understandable complaints, Job finally has a response from God. The Lord reminds Job that He is not like the friends with whom Job debated earlier. Rather, He is the Creator of all things, dawn and darkness, earth and sea, and of all things on the face of the earth. No one knows something better than the one who made it. No one knows the heavens better than God. No one knows the earth better than God. No one knows Job better than God.
Before this revelation, Job falls silent. “Behold, I am of little account; what can I answer you?
I put my hand over my mouth.” (Jb 40:4) Silence is not a bad state to be in as one stands before God. It gives us an opportunity to listen, to receive what God wants to give us. As St. Jerome wrote in in a letter about reading the Scriptures to his good friend, St. Eustochium, “As you pray, you are speaking to the Bridegroom. As you read, He is speaking to you.” If we truly desire to strengthen our spiritual sight, to see a little more like God sees, then let us put aside some time for silence. In that silence, as we listen to God’s word, we can begin to hear Him tell us what He sees.