On 2 Timothy 4:1–8 and Matthew 5:13–19 in the Spirit of St. Jerome
On the Feast of St. Jerome, fiery priest and tireless translator of the Sacred Scriptures, the Church sets before us two passages of great urgency. St. Paul exhorts his disciple Timothy with final words of apostolic gravity, while Our Lord Himself in the Gospel declares the enduring authority of the Law and the necessity of Christian witness.
1. St. Paul’s Farewell and the Crown of Fidelity (2 Tim 4:1–8)
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice…” (2 Tim 4:7–8)
Here St. Paul, nearing martyrdom, entrusts Timothy with the charge to preach the Word, in season and out of season. This admonition resounds through the centuries: the Gospel is not to be adjusted according to human convenience but proclaimed as divine truth.
St. John Chrysostom comments: “Paul does not merely say ‘preach,’ but urges him with solemnity: ‘before God and Christ who will judge the living and the dead.’ He shows that this is no small matter, but one involving the judgment-seat itself” (Hom. on 2 Tim.). Thus, every priest, catechist, and Christian soul is reminded that fidelity to truth is not optional, but essential unto salvation.
St. Jerome himself embodied this vigilance. His life was marked by the unceasing labor of study, prayer, and polemic against heresy, so that Christ’s flock might be nourished with the pure word of God. He too could say at life’s end: “I have kept the faith.” His “crown” was not ease or worldly praise, but the eternal recompense promised to those who endure to the end.
2. Salt and Light: The Perpetual Authority of the Law (Matt 5:13–19)
“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world… Amen I say to you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matt 5:13, 18)
Our Lord teaches that His disciples are not to be hidden or conformed to the world, but to preserve its savor with the salt of truth and illumine it with the light of charity. The Law is not abolished, but perfected in Him, and thus the Christian’s life is to shine with fidelity and good works.
St. Augustine reflects: “To be salt is to preserve from corruption; to be light is to show the way. He who lives well both restrains the corrupt by his example and illumines the ignorant by his teaching.” (Sermon on the Mount, I). Thus, the Christian who fails in witness becomes like salt that has lost its savor—fit only to be cast out.
St. Jerome, commenting on this very Gospel, writes: “If the Apostles are the light of the world, the faithful also, who are enlightened by them, should be called light. But if the light itself is darkened, what darkness will follow?” (Comm. in Matt. V). Here the saint speaks with the same severity he applied to himself: for those entrusted with God’s word, negligence or compromise is no small sin.
3. St. Jerome: A Living Fulfillment of Both Texts
The Church, in her wisdom, pairs these readings with the feast of St. Jerome because his life exemplifies both Paul’s steadfast fidelity and Christ’s demand for salt and light.
- Like Paul, Jerome spent himself wholly for the Gospel, laboring in the deserts of Chalcis, in the schools of Rome, and in Bethlehem, where his translations gave the West the Vulgate Bible, a treasure for all ages.
- Like the salt and the light, Jerome preserved the faith from corruption through his sharp controversies and illumined the Church with his profound scriptural commentaries.
His often severe temperament was not for vanity, but for zeal: zeal that the sacred deposit remain intact, untainted, radiant.
Conclusion: A Call to Us
Today, St. Paul’s voice and Christ’s command ring out anew. In an age when many would soften the truth or hide the light of faith, we are called to be salt that preserves, and light that guides. Like Jerome, we must labor to know the Scriptures, defend the truth, and live lives worthy of the Gospel.
May St. Jerome obtain for us the courage to “fight the good fight,” so that with him we may receive the crown of righteousness from the just Judge at His coming.
✠ “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” – St. Jerome