September Drinking Companion

After years of wanting to write about St. Jerome, but in my “personal” opinion, I find him kind of boring, and thus why I have not done so until today. I felt very strongly now is the time, since in reflection, I did have a couple miracles through his patronage. Most of all, his obedience, has laid a foundation for Christian unity until this day.

I always prefer to begin with the miracles, instead of the boring academics that often feel disconnected with our current moment. I feel it draws us to a closer reality of intimacy with God. I always enjoy those who say “do you have a personal relationship with Jesus”. Interiorly I always know, yes! Not only do I know Him and the Father, but I know the whole family through the Church and Eucharist, which I literally consume daily to be united to God’s will in the Real Presence of Jesus. Kind of like the disciples on the Road to Emmaus and many other encounters after the Resurrection. It was during the time of reciting scripture (liturgy) and breaking of the bread that Jesus’ Presence was realized to be present and their eyes opened.

Is a family only made of a father? No. If we are made in the image of God, so too does our family reflect that in heaven. Thus our devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus, or as Elizabeth says in Luke 1:43, the mother of our Lord. This is what it means to be baptized, you join this holy family, otherwise known as saints. Just like any healthy family, we work together in the physical and spiritual presence. As a returning Catholic I’ve come to enjoy these miraculous moments of my heavenly family helping me.

This brings me to St. Jerome, who was known for pencil whipping his opponents. After a worldly life of sorts, he became one of the great early defenders of the Catholic Christian truth. At that time, it was the only truth of Jesus since there was only one church, with many divisive heresies, that carry on to this day, just in a reinvented manner. Jerome was known for having a short temper. In many respects I enjoyed hearing about this, since I too have my moments in life when I get frustrated with ignorance especially when I was in the business world. It can be challenging to be patient with others, when you are the one constantly fixing dysfunctional businesses. There’s always more excuses than solutions. This is why I don’t do politics either. Everything is finger pointing, in reality we just need to lead by example and encourage others to follow the straight and narrow way to success, as Jesus has taught us through the Church teachings. That’s another blog for another day.

Finally the miracles of St. Jerome in my life! To begin when I lived in Newport News, VA I would see road signs for St. Jerome’s but I had no real interest in going back to the church. However during the 3 months of more intense prayer and asking God for some sign he exists, I would find a St. Michael medallion on the floor upon going for a walk in the rain Oct 3, 2010. Instead of walking to the Walmart as intended, I went in the other direction following these signs to St. Jerome’s. A series of events would happen which sparked my awareness that someone was listening. Ironically just days before, Sept 30 was the feast of St. Jerome, which if I’m correct made it possible for the church to be opened, since there was a celebration in his honor. It was also a significant day for St. Therese who in many respects was my inspiration in this whole moment.

This was a small miraculous moment, which led to my radical reversion to the faith and literally lifted me out of darkness. However seven years later I could’ve felt despair, but again Jerome was there for the assist. I gave up my life in Charlotte, NC to join a religious group and pursue priesthood. I moved to New Jersey for a month to be with my mom who was grieving her loss. After that I was supposed to go to Ohio. I felt my path was about to be altered, but I try to just surrender and let God sort things out. A week before I was set to join, the religious group changed their mind, technically leaving me “shipwrecked” in New Jersey. I had no car, etc. Eventually I bought a new car since I had date planned with a woman. I didn’t want to rely on other forms of transportation to get to Philadelphia. This left an impression with my the date, who is now my wife and true soulmate.

However just as all this was happening, I was obviously confused since so much had changed so quickly. Then came September 30, 2017. I decided to go to Mass at St. Jerome’s in Wall, New Jersey. As liturgy was beginning I heard a familiarity in the priest voice. He was Asian, and not the American priest I previous heard many years earlier. After Mass I decided to introduce myself and the reason I was visiting. Upon telling him it was a Filipino priest at a St. Jerome’s in Newport News, who welcomed me back to the church, he asked, “what is his name?”

I reply skeptically “It’s Father Henry Diesta, but he is no longer here, he’s back in the Philippines. Father Peter then replies, “tell him Father Peter says hello.” In shock I say “you know him?” He replied “I was his high school seminary teacher”. This obviously moved me to tears since it was a very Providential moment, and great reminder I was exactly where I belong. In trust and obedience to the Lord, He led me right where I needed to be, not necessarily where I wanted to be. In hindsight my life couldn’t get any better than where I am, because I’m living it just as God/Logos/The Absolute designed it for me. It gets better everyday. When I look at my daughter, I’m reminded of countless miracles that led to her life.

This brings me back to Jerome, and his obedience. Jerome’s greatest work was translating the Bible to Latin, from the original Hebrew. Prior to him, it was often translated from the Septuagint, Greek, which was done around the 3rd-2nd B.C. The Greeks found value in translating Hebrew writings to educate their society. However everything can get lost in translation and Jerome wanted a more pure translation. During this time, he was challenged because there were 7 additional books in the Greek translations, than in the Hebrew. Out of obedience to his historical predecessors, the authoritative teachers, he left these books in what was known as the Bible (Latin for collection of books"). Until our current time, it is a unifying precedent that Jerome set for the Church. While other churches divide at rapid rates like cancer, which first mutates a cell then replicates until it destroys the body, obedience to the foundational teachings, have kept the Church healthy for 2000 years despite the divisiveness of the times.

In close, this has been my recent revelation in life I share with others. As I’ve gotten to know my people in my area, who most work in the government sector of sorts, I see good people. I don’t agree always with what they represent, but that’s an identity that doesn’t truly define who they are. They are made in the image of God, and our humanity is truly our identity, since Jesus found value in taking it on and joining us. He then shows us the better way in a fallen and challenged world. Even in the suffering of the Cross, there is obedience to a higher calling, the Resurrection, new life. This is how I now approach these relationships. I see they all have good intentions, but unfortunately we all can be off to some degree and sadly if you are off by one degree in aiming for the moon, we know where that can lead, outer space, or in the spiritual sense, many lost ways. The greatest thing we can do, is patiently encourage each other, and trust God to make straight with the crooked lines we can create.

My favorite prayer I say interiorly when I’m in a moment of misunderstanding “God, illuminated my conscious if there’s something I’m missing here. Illuminate their conscience if there’s something they’re missing.” This always helps me to see many sides to the complexities of our society and instead of over reacting, to just let the dust settle and allow God to reorder things with His grace. This is the story of the saints and their trust in obedience.

I enjoy art like this, it's a nice reminder Jesus was obedient in many respects. Whether it was to scripture, or his parents.