No Turning Back: The Absolute Cost of the Kingdom

Job 9:1-12.14-16, Psalm: 87, Lk 9:57-62

Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church (White)

My dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

On this Memorial of Saint Jerome, the great biblical scholar who gave us the Vulgate translation of Scripture, the Word of God presents us with a sobering and challenging teaching. Job, in his suffering, confronts the inscrutable majesty of God. Jesus, in the Gospel, demands an uncompromising commitment from those who would follow Him. Saint Jerome, a man who left the comforts of Rome for the silence of Bethlehem, lived this radical call to discipleship.

In the Book of Job, we hear the voice of a man who has lost everything. He says, “How can a man be justified before God? If one wished to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times.” Job recognizes the immense distance between God and man. God is powerful, wise, and beyond our understanding. He moves mountains, shakes the earth, and commands the sun. Job does not claim to understand God’s ways. He does not pretend to have all the answers. He humbly submits to the mystery of God. This is the beginning of wisdom: to know that we are not God, and to trust in His goodness even when we do not understand.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus lays down the conditions of discipleship with startling clarity. “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Jesus demands total commitment. He does not allow for half-heartedness, for divided loyalties, or for looking back. He calls us to follow Him with our whole hearts, our whole lives, and our whole beings. This is the call to radical discipleship. It is the call to leave behind our excuses, our attachments, and our fears.

Saint Jerome heard this call. He was born into a wealthy Christian family and received an excellent education in Rome. He was baptized, but he struggled with the temptations of the world. He was drawn to the ascetic life, and he eventually left the comforts of Rome to live as a hermit in the Syrian desert. He spent years in solitude, studying Scripture, fasting, and praying. He was a man of fiery temper and sharp tongue, but he used his gifts to defend the faith and to translate the Bible into the language of the people. He died in Bethlehem, where he had lived for decades, surrounded by his manuscripts and his devotion to the Word of God.

Pope Benedict XVI, reflecting on Saint Jerome, said, “He devoted his life to the study of Scripture, not as a mere intellectual exercise, but as a way of coming to know Christ.” Pope Francis has said, “The Lord calls us to follow Him without looking back, to leave behind our comforts and our attachments.” And Saint Jerome himself wrote, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

What does this mean for us? We are called to follow Jesus with uncompromising commitment. We are called to let go of our excuses, our attachments, and our fears. We are called to trust in God’s goodness, even when we do not understand His ways. We are called to be like Job, who submitted to the mystery of God, and like Saint Jerome, who dedicated his life to the Word of God.

Today, let us examine our hearts. Are we looking back? Are we clinging to our excuses? Are we trusting in our own understanding? Let us ask the Lord to give us the grace to follow Him without hesitation, to leave behind our attachments, and to set our hands to the plow. For the kingdom of God is worth everything. And the One who calls us is faithful. Amen.

May God bless you all!