Monday, July 7 : Saint Jerome

When the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth? let me remind them that the faith in question is that of which the Lord himself said, Matthew 9:22 Your faith has made you whole. And elsewhere, of the centurion, Matthew 8:10 I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And again, to the Apostles, Matthew 8:26 Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? In another place also, Matthew 17:20 If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove. For neither the centurion nor that poor woman who for twelve years was wasting away with a bloody flux, had believed in the mysteries of the Trinity, for these were revealed to the Apostles after the resurrection of Christ; so that the faith of such as believe in the mystery of the Trinity might have its due preeminence: but it was her singleness of mind and her devotion to her God that met with our Lord’s approval: Matthew 9:21 For she said within herself, If I do but touch his garment, I shall be made whole. This is the faith which our Lord said was seldom found. This is the faith which even in the case of those who believe aright is hard to find in perfection. Matthew 9:29 According to your faith, be it done unto you, says God. I do not, indeed, like the sound of those words. For if it be done unto me according to my faith, I shall perish. And yet I certainly believe in God the Father, I believe in God the Son, and I believe in God the Holy Ghost. I believe in one God; nevertheless, I would not have it done unto me according to my faith. For the enemy often comes, and sows tares in the Lord’s harvest…. As it is, frequently in my prayers I am either walking in the arcades, or calculating my interest, or am carried away by base thoughts, so as to be occupied with things the mere mention of which makes me blush. I have given these illustrations that you may understand my meaning. But let every one commune with his own heart, and he will find throughout the whole of life how rare a thing it is to find a soul so faithful that it does nothing through the love of glory, nothing on account of the petty gossip of men… Vice is next-door neighbour to virtue. It is hard to rest content with God alone for judge.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team