Memorial of Saint Jerome, doctor of the Church, who died in Bethlehem in 420. He translated the Bible into the Latin language. Prayer that the voice of the Scripture may be heard in every language.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Job 38,1.12-21; 40,3-5

Then from the heart of the tempest Yahweh gave Job his answer. He said: Have you ever in your life given orders to the morning or sent the dawn to its post, to grasp the earth by its edges and shake the wicked out of it? She turns it as red as a clay seal, she tints it as though it were a dress, stealing the light from evil-doers and breaking the arm raised to strike. Have you been right down to the sources of the sea and walked about at the bottom of the Abyss? Have you been shown the gates of Death, have you seen the janitors of the Shadow dark as death? Have you an inkling of the extent of the earth? Tell me all about it if you have! Which is the way to the home of the Light, and where does darkness live?- You could then show them the way to their proper places, you could put them on the path home again! If you do know, you must have been born when they were, you must be very old by now! Job replied to Yahweh: My words have been frivolous: what can I reply? I had better lay my hand over my mouth. I have spoken once, I shall not speak again; I have spoken twice, I have nothing more to say.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

God finally speaks, as Job had been asking from the beginning of the book. It seems that the Lord does not care at all about answering Job's questions and demands directly. God challenges the man who has dared to question his actions. These two chapters form a long question posed by God to Job, which is summarized in the initial challenge: "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge. Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me." And God asks Job about the works of creation, first nature and then animals. How can Job think that God is outside of human history if God is not only the source of all that exists, but also the one that keeps all the works of creation alive? Today science tries to explain everything and finds the origin of every event. Thus we end by eliminating any reason to be awestruck by creation. Why should we see God's benevolent presence behind the things we see every day? And yet this is precisely the novelty of the Bible: it does not consider any created thing divine. In this it is profoundly "secular." But God's presence emerges over everything: God maintains the wondrous order of creation, something worthy of being amazed by, because we will never be masters of it all. Let us be challenged by the Lord, so that our wisdom will not become foolishness.