Martin Jumbam

Catholic Meditation - Second Sunday of Lent – Year C

 By Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, February 24, 2013, as the Second Sunday of Lent – Year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “Remember your mercies, Lord, your tenderness from ages past. Do not let our enemies triumph over us; O God, deliver Israel from all her distress. Amen.”

The story of Abraham, in the First Reading, reminds us that through our baptism we are called to trust God completely. God gives many opportunities to whoever opens his or her heart to the word of God and takes it seriously by spreading it around. Abraham believes in God’s word and becomes the perfect example of what faith should be. He prefers God’s word to human security and is therefore rewarded as “Our father in faith.”

Catholic Meditation - First Sunday of Lent – Year C

By Martin Jumbam

Mother Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, February 17, 2013, as the First Sunday of Lent in the Church’s Year C. As we are entering enter the Lenten season, it is appropriate to ask the question: What is Lent? The word ‘lent’ does not have any religious or Christian meaning, being an old Anglo-Saxon word for spring time, lencten. It describes the gradual lengthening of daylight after the winter solstice. So it is a word that is associated in Europe with the weather, marking the transition from winter to spring. It’s not clear how it became associated with Christianity, but it is the period coming about a month and a half after Christmas during which the whole Church goes on retreat for six weeks, that is, for 40 days, for an annual spiritual renewal. It prepares us to celebrate Christianity’s most fundamental belief, i. e. that Christ died, rose from the dead and is alive. In the absence of this belief, there is no Christianity.

Catholic Meditation - Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C.

By Martin Jumbam

Mother Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, February 10, 2013, as the fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C. The theme of this day’s Eucharist is how God  calls everyone of us to serve him. In the first reading, Isaiah receives his call to be a prophet, while the first Apostles of Christ receive theirs in the Gospel. Last Sunday, we heard how Jeremiah received his call to be a prophet. This Sunday we listen to the call of the prophet Isaiah. God reveals himself to Isaiah who, after seeing the glory and holiness of God, realizes his own unworthiness. Overwhelmed by the sight and goodness of God, Isaiah volunteers to fulfill the mission God has entrusted to him. He tells the Lord: “Here I am, send me!”

Catholic Meditation - The Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C

By Martin Jumbam

Mother Church celebrates Sunday, February 3, 2013 as the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Liturgical Year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “Save us, Lord our God, and gather us together from the nations, that we may proclaim your holy name and glory in your praise. Amen.”

The first reading from the prophecy of Jeremiah (1:4-5. 17-19) talks about the call of the prophet Jeremiah. In each important prophetic book of the Old Testament, an account is always given of the call of the prophet. Here Jeremiah is chosen from his mother’s womb and given his mission. He is to singlehandedly oppose the rulers of Judah, who have set themselves on a course of national and religious ruin. Very much against his will, Jeremiah prophecies the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, which was for the Jewish people the inviolable seat of God’s presence among them. He was in this sense the forerunner of Christ, who also warned his people of the imminent destruction of the temple, a warning that came true less than a century after his death.