ENTRANCE ANTIPHON Psalm 1:2-3
Beatus vir, qui meditabitur in lege Domini die ac nocte: dabit fructum suum in tempore suo.
Blessed indeed is he
who ponders the law of the Lord day and night:
he will yield his fruit in due season.
COLLECT
Deus, qui beato Hieronymo presbytero suavem et vivum Scripturae Sacrae affectum tribuisti, da, ut populus tuus verbo tuo uberius alatur, et in eo fontem vitae inveniat.
O God, who gave the Priest Saint Jerome
a living and tender love for Sacred Scripture,
grant that your people
may be ever more fruitfully nourished by your Word
and find in it the fount of life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
FIRST READING2 Timothy 3:14-17
Beloved:
Remain faithful to what you have learned and believed,
because you know from whom you learned it,
and that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures,
which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation
through faith in Christ Jesus.
All Scripture is inspired by God
and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
so that one who belongs to God may be competent,
equipped for every good work
RESPONSORIAL PSALM119:9,10,11,12,13,14
R./(12b) Lord, teach me your statutes.
How can a young man be faultless in his way?
By keeping to your words. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
With my lips I declare
all the ordinances of your mouth. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
In the way of your decrees
I rejoice as much in all riches. R./ Lord, teach me your statutes.
ALLELUIASee Acts 16:1-4b
Open our hearts, O Lord.
to listen to the words of your Son.
GOSPELMatthew 13:47-52
Jesus said to the disciples:
"The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.
When it is full they haul it ashore
and sit down to put what is good into buckets.
What is bad they throw away.
Thus it will be at the end of the age.
The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
and throw them into the fiery furnace,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."
Jesus asked them:
"Do you understand all these things?"
They answered, "Yes."
And he replied,
"Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom
both the new and the old."
PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
Tribue, nobis, Domine, ut, exemplo beati Hieronymi, verbum tuum meditati, ad salutarem hostiam maiestati tuae offerendam promptius accedamus.
Grant us, O Lord,
that, having meditated on your Word,
following the example of Saint Jerome,
we may more eagerly draw near
to offer your majesty the sacrifice of salvation.
Through Christ our Lord.
COMMUNION ANTIPHONSee Jeremiah 15:16
Domine Deus, inventi sunt sermones tuos, et comedi eos; et factum est mihi verbum tuum in gaudium et in laetitiam cordis mei.
Lord God, your words were found and I consumed them;
your word became the joy and the happiness of my heart.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Sancta tua quae sumpsimus, Domine, de beati Hieronymi celebritate laetantes, tuorum excitent corda fidelium, ut, sacris intenta doctrinis, intellegant quod sequantur, et sequendo vitam obtineant sempiternam.
May these holy gifts we have received, O Lord,
as we rejoice in celebrating Saint Jerome,
stir up the hearts of your faithful
so that, attentive to sacred teachings,
they may understand the path they are to follow
and, by following it, obtain life everlasting.
Through Christ our Lord.
From the prologue of the commentary on Isaiah by St Jerome, Priest (Nn. 1.2: CCL 73,1-3)
Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ
I interpret as I should, following the command of Christ: "Search the Scriptures," and "Seek and you shall find." Christ will not say to me what he said to the Jews: "You erred, not knowing the Scriptures and not knowing the power of God." For if, as Paul says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and wisdom of Gods, then ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.
Therefore, I will imitate the head of a household who brings out of his storehouse things both new and old, and says to his spouse in the Song of Songs: "I have kept for you things new and old, my beloved." In this way permit me to explain Isaiah, showing that he was not only a prophet, but an evangelist and an apostle as well. For he says about himself and the other evangelists: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news, of those who announce peace." And God speaks to him as if he were an apostle: "Whom shall I send, who will go to my people?" And he answers: "Here I am; send me."
No one should think that I mean to explain the entire subject matter of this great book of Scripture in one brief sermon, since it contains all the mysteries of the Lord. It prophesies that Emmanuel is to be born of a virgin and accomplish marvellous works and signs. It predicts his death, burial and resurrection from the dead as the Saviour of all men. I need say nothing about the natural sciences, ethics and logic. Whatever is proper to holy Scripture, whatever can be expressed in human language and understood by the human mind, is contained in the book of Isaiah. Of these mysteries the author himself testifies when he writes: "You will be given a vision of all things, like words in a sealed scroll. When they give the writings to a wise man, they will say: Read this. And he will reply: I cannot, for it is sealed. And when the scroll is given to an uneducated man and he is told: Read this, he will reply: I do not know how to read."
Should this argument appear weak to anyone, let him listen to the Apostle: "Let two or three prophets speak, and let others interpret; if, however, a revelation should come to one of those who are seated there, let the first one be quiet." How can they be silent, since it depends on the Spirit who speaks through his prophets whether they remain silent or speak? If they understood what they were saying, all things would be full of wisdom and knowledge. But it was not the air vibrating with the human voice that reached their ears , but rather it was God speaking within the soul of the prophets, just as another prophet says: "It is an angel who spoke in me;" and again, "Crying out in our hearts, Abba, Father’," and "I shall listen to what the Lord God says within me."
RESPONSORYSee 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Proverbs 28:7
All Scripture is inspired by God and is valuable
for teaching and for showing the way to holiness,
- so that the man of God might become fully qualified
and equipped for every good work.
The wise son is one who keeps God's law.
- So that the man of God might become fully qualified
and equipped for every good work.
PRAYER
Father,
you gave St. Jerome delight
in his study of Holy Scripture.
May your people find in your word
the food of salvation and the fountain of life.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.