Jerome and Jeremiah

You can put St Jerome down as patron saint of curmudgeons. This guy was one controversialist! Donald Attwater's Dictionary of Saints says, " St Jerome was in some ways a contradictory character. His religious ideals where pitched very high; he held the affection of his friends and followers; he was considerate to the weak and lowly. On the other hand there were his intemperateness in controversy, his contempt for opponents, the virulence of his tongue and pen, and his savage in insulting invective...the remark attributed to Pope Sixtus V seems more to the point: looking at a picture which showed Jerome beating his breast with a stone, Sixtus said "You do well to use that stone without it you would never have been numbered among the saints."



I think I understand Jerome. You see, he was a very smart and educated guy. He considered life to be a mystery to be understood, and through his learning and education he figured it out, and then he had a passion to share that understanding with others, but when they wouldn't agree with him, or when they said something ignorant or stupid or behaved in an ignorant or stupid way he lost his patience. He felt he had to correct them and put them right all the time, and when they were too thick or stubborn to respond he just hit harder instead of backing off.



We all know folks like that. I see one in the mirror most mornings. What's good about them? Well, to tell the truth, they very often tell the truth. In other words, they are straight talkers. They don't mind telling it like it is. If you don't like it--tough. They cut through all the sentimentality and lies. They cut through the hypocrisy and cant and pretense. They understand how often the sentimentality and lies and power games and hypocrisy are all wrapped up in sweetness and light and smiles and those sincerely pained pious looks we all know which are imbued with self righteousness and that twisted sort of spiritual pride.



St Jerome was well named. Not too far off Jeremiah who also inveighed against his enemies in uncompromising terms, but another good thing about such prophetic figures is that they are passionate for the truth. They are passionate for God and passionate for the salvation of souls.