Brief Background:

St. Jerome (c. 347–420) was a priest, monk, theologian, and one of the great biblical scholars of the early Church. He devoted much of his life to studying Scripture and is especially known for translating the Bible into Latin; his work became the foundation of the Latin Vulgate. He spent the final decades of his life in Bethlehem, living a life of prayer, study, and writing.

St. Jerome is the patron saint of biblical scholars, translators, librarians, students, and scholars.

REFLECTION:

The past few days, I have been interviewing people for the position of Director of Finance for the school. And you know how interviews usually go. You ask a question, and they already have an answer—and usually they give you the answer they think you want to hear, but not necessarily the answer you really need to hear.

“What kind of leader are you?”
“I’m collaborative.”

“How do you deal with conflict?”
“I’m a great listener.”

“Can you work with difficult people?”
“Absolutely, Father. I love difficult people!”

Nobody ever says, “Father, I avoid conflict, I don’t like people, and I hold grudges.” At least, hopefully not during the interview!

We know how to give the right answer. And maybe that is what makes today’s Gospel so interesting.

Three people encounter Jesus, and all three seem to have the right answer. The first says, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Beautiful! If Jesus were conducting an interview, we might say: “Great answer. You’re hired!”

But Jesus responds, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” In other words: Are you sure? Because following me will not always be comfortable.

Then Jesus says to another person, “Follow me.” And he responds, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” There it is: “Me first.”

And then the third person says, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family.” There it is again: “Yes, Lord…but first.”

And maybe that is our answer sometimes too.

Yes, Lord, I’ll pray more—but first, let me get through this busy week.

Yes, Lord, I’ll forgive—but first, they need to apologize.

Yes, Lord, I’ll serve—but first, let my schedule calm down.

Yes, Lord, I’ll change—but first, let me do things my way a little longer.

Yes, Lord…but first.

Today we celebrate St. Jerome, who spent his life studying the Scriptures because he understood that Scripture ultimately leads us to a Person: Jesus Christ. His famous words were, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

But Jerome didn't simply study Christ. His life became a response to Christ. He left behind comfort, gave himself to prayer and study, and allowed the Word of God to change the direction of his life. And maybe that's the connection with today's Gospel.

We can know all the right Catholic answers. We can know Scripture. We can come to Mass. We can say, “Jesus, I trust you. Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I will follow you.” But Jesus isn't conducting an interview. He's not looking for the answer we think He wants to hear. He's looking at whether we're willing to live the answer we've already given.

So maybe today Jesus asks each of us one simple question: “Will you follow me?” And before we automatically give Him the right answer, maybe we should listen carefully to our own response.

Because sometimes our answer isn't really, “Yes, Lord.” Sometimes it's: “Yes, Lord…but first…”