St. Jerome priest and doctor of the Church
(Luke 9:51-56)
We sometimes see images of St. Jerome with a lion at his side. Those who know little about him opine that Jerome befriended lions much like St. Francis of Assisi and St. Martin de Porres endeared themselves to smaller animals. But much more likely the lion represents St. Jerome himself whose anger for his enemies flared to a rage at times. The heretic Pelagius was one who felt the incandescent brilliance of Jerome’s anger.
In the gospel Jesus’ disciples James and John demonstrate a similar tendency to rage. Learning that the Lord will not be welcome in a Samaritan village, they want to call down fire upon the place. They have quickly forgotten Jesus’ own instructions for the eventuality. Jesus told his apostles that if villagers refuses to welcome their mission of goodwill, they were only to “shake the dust your feet in testimony against them.”
Jerome is a saint despite his irascibility not but because of it. We may be sure that he mastered it before entering the Kingdom of God. Jesus counsels forbearance and forgiveness when people rebuke our best efforts. Uncontrolled anger has no place in his following.
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