Feast of All Saints Fr. Rick, Homilist In the New Testament, the term “saint” was applied to anyone baptized as a Christian, becoming a follower of Christ and a member of the Christian church. The church was to be the “communion of saints.” Eventually, the term “saint” began to be applied to Christians who inspired other Christians in other times and places. In the Episcopal Church, our calendar of saints includes people from any number of Christian traditions: Episcopal and other Anglican churches, of course, but also Baptist, Methodist, Orthodox, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic, to name a few. People listed in our calendar also show a diversity of vocations: musicians, composers, social reformers, teachers and writers as well as vocations of clergy and members of holy orders. Living a life of commitment to Christ that inspires others is not limited to clergy and members of religious orders. All Christians, no matter what they do, have that potential. On today’s Feast day, I would like to share a reflection about a person listed in the Calendar of Saints of our Church, as well as the Lutheran Church, the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. His name is Jerome. In our calendar of saints, he is identified as a priest and monk. I believe the title “Bible scholar” can be added to his identification. Born sometime between 340 and 347 CE in Croatia, Jerome grew to study and specialize in rhetoric. In 366, he was baptized by the Bishop of Rome Liberius and became seriously interested in theological studies. The rest of his life would be a commitment to asceticism and study. He is considered one of the leading theologians within the western Church’s first 400 years. Paramount of his contributions to Christianity was his involvement in the translation of the Bible into Latin known as the Vulgate, which pretty much means “popularized version”. Up to that time, a Latin Bible existed and was referred to as the Old Latin text. It had many variant readings, which made the Bishop of Rome Damasus request Jerome to revise the Latin translation of the Four Gospels. Several years later, Jerome translated the Old Testament to Latin from the Hebrew instead of from the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures known as the Septuagint. Jerome’s translation of the scripture is known for its clarity of exposition, fidelity of translation, and elegance of diction. He brought the full force of his giftedness, his scholarship, to his work of translating the Bible into Latin. Jerome saw, as his Christian commitment, a dedication to using the skills and abilities God gave him to further the availability of the Bible in a clearer translation. Now for the dirt. Most saints are remembered for some outstanding virtue or devotion they practiced. Not Jerome. He is frequently remembered for his bad temper. He was a sarcastic, vitriolic, argumentative, cantankerous, intemperate, name-calling caustic person! He was not only this way to those who opposed Christianity and who could be offensive as well. He was this way to members of the church. For example, when Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, criticized Jerome’s translation of the Bible, he referred to Ambrose as a deformed crow. Jerome was a letter writer, but any written communications with him listed south. According to a short bio in Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, “his friendship with Augustine, conducted through letter, nearly ended before it began. Fortunately, Augustine sized him up correctly, soothed his feelings, and was extremely tactful thereafter.” Jerome was hard on himself too. He knew his personality was abrasive and practiced penance because of it. A painting shows him striking his breast with a stone, as a form of penance. It is said one medieval Bishop of Rome commented of this portrait, “You do well to carry that stone, for without it the Church would never have canonized you.” Hot temper, extreme pride of learning, and a commitment to severe asceticism as superior to any other way of living the Christian life, Jerome didn’t have many friends. In 386 CE, he settled in Bethlehem as a superior of a monastery and the spiritual director of a convent. It is said he made his home within a cave in Bethlehem. Considering his reputation, I am sure there were some who would have liked to seal that cave with him in it. What can we learn from this cantankerous follower of Christ – other than that there is hope for us all? Jerome recognized his giftedness, his talents and abilities, and put them to use the best that he could as one who loved God and followed Christ. Each of us is gifted. God is the giver of the gifts we have. We have the opportunity to use our skills to the best of our ability and as we do we show gratitude to the ultimate gift giver for what has been given us. But it doesn’t stop there. By doing what we can to live our giftedness, we recognize and share with others the understanding that God is the gift giver. We are just using what has been given to us. Jerome opposed attacks against Christianity, quite strongly and belligerently. We too can stand in opposition to attacks against Christianity. It is a different world now from the 4th century. Some attacks against the Christian Church are justified. Attacks against the church when we acted in ways lacking compassion and justice are deserved. What are we to do in response? We are to acknowledge the wrong we have done, commit to not repeating the wrong, and then become stronger in being instruments of compassion, justice, and peace: followers of Christ. There is no shame in being a follower of Christ, though there are many examples of wrongdoing on the part of the church. But we are the church and at times we need to challenge ourselves and one another to live more fully the Spirit of Christ. We are after all part of the communion of saints. As long as we live, breathe and have our being within the presence of God this side of the mystery of death, we have responsibilities. When we transition from this life to life nearer to God through death, we will have our rest with God. Until then, we are to be people of action: compassion, justice, peace, extending ourselves for the good of others. In that way, we can truly live our identities as saints – Christians who inspire other Christians and be the presence of Christ in a struggling world. We are all different – Thanks be to God – but all called to live as examples of Christ. A poem about St. Jerome by Phyllis McGinley, “The Thunderer” is lengthy but accurate and humorous, and concludes: He wasn’t a plaster sort of saint. But he swelled men’s minds With a Christian leaven. It takes all kinds To make a heaven.

Amen.