"Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!" (Jb 1:6-22)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/093024.cfm
This is probably the most famous line from the Book of Job which we begin reading today. Job asks all the right questions—the answers are always a mystery. Saint Jerome (342-420) loved the challenge of the Scriptures and learned Greek and Hebrew so that he could translate the Word of God into Latin, which was the lingua franca of his day. But it wasn’t the Latin of the Academy . . . rather as my seminary professor said, it was street Latin, hip-hop Latin . . . and as my professor added, “Every prostitute in Rome could read and understand it.” The translation of Saint Jerome is called the Vulgate.
These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Saint Jerome, presbyter & doctor, September 30
