Martin Jumbam

Catholic Meditation - 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C.

 By Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church celebrated Sunday, October 27, 2013, as the 30^th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray, “Let the hearts seek the Lord rejoice; turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.  In the first reading, Ben Sira leads us to see wisdom almost as a person drawing us towards God, who only gives wisdom to those who have the humility to receive it. The Lord always listens to the humble man’s prayers. In the second reading, Saint Paul ends his letter to Timothy by forgiving his friends who have deserted him at a time he feels death approaching. He compares his coming death to the running of a race, except that the crown of victory is in heaven. The Gospel takes up the theme of humility in prayer with the famous parable of the Pharisee and the publican. In it, we see that God is truly a just judge who listens to the humble persistent prayer of the publican, a man considered a traitor because he collects income for a despised force of occupation, but rejects the haughty prayer of the Pharisee, who believes himself to be above everyone else. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace of humility so that our prayers too can reach our Father in heaven who is always merciful to us, sinners.

Catholic Meditation - 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

 By Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, October 20, 2013 as the 29^th Sunday of Ordinary Time in the Church’s Year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “To you I call; for you will surely heed me, O God; turn your ear to me; hear my words. Guard me as the apple of your eye; in the shadow of your wings, protect me. Amen.”

Our meditation of this day is centered on persistence, constancy and perseverance in prayer. In the first reading, from the Book of Exodus, we hear how Moses persistently prayed from morning till evening, with the help of Aaron and Hur, and through his prayers gave victory in battle to Israel over her enemies. In the second reading, from Second Timothy, Saint Paul’s thought of his impending death leads him to strongly urge his companion Timothy to courageously preach the Gospel and ensure that his conduct conforms with the doctrine he preaches. In the Gospel, from Luke, Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem and to his passion. Today, he teaches us the value of persistence in prayer through the parable of the widow whose persistence leads an unjust judge to give her the justice she deserves. Let us ask God today to make us strong in our faith, unwavering in our hope, and persistent in our prayer. Let us take advantage of the month of the Holy Rosary to pray to our Lady for all our needs, and for the needs of our friends and family members. Amen.

Catholic Meditation - 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Year C

 By Martin Jumbam

 Mother Church celebrates Sunday, October 13, 2013, as the 28^th Sunday of Ordinary Time in the Church’s Year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “If you, O Lord, laid bare our guilt, who could endure it? But you are forgiving, God of Israel. Amen.”

One of the lessons from the readings of this day is Christ’s call on us to be men and women who recognize the good things done to them and who are grateful for them. Let us be like the Samaritan in the Gospel, who comes back to express gratitude to Christ for curing him of the dreadful disease of leprosy. Many times the Lord works great things for us, cures us of our own leprosy of sin, but we fail, like the nine other lepers, to come back and thank him for it. Today is the day we should take stock of our lives and see where we have been ungrateful to God or to our neighbor and make amends for it.  In the first reading, from the second Book of Kings, the prophet Elisha cures the Syrian leper, Namaan, and through that cure attracts him to the true religion, a much greater gift than the health of the body.  In his second letter to Timothy, in the second reading, Paul advises his faithful companion to put up with his own share of the difficulties of preaching God’s word, like the good soldier of Christ that he is.  In the Gospel, Saint Luke tells us the story of the ten lepers whom the Lord cures of leprosy and only one of them, a despised Samaritan, thinks of coming back to give thanks to God. The curing of Namaan, the Syrian leper, in the first reading, and of the Samaritan, in the Gospel, clearly shows us that our God is a God whose mercy knows no frontiers. He is not for any one people alone, but for humanity as a whole.  We pray in the course of this Holy Eucharist for the grace of gratitude to God for the wonderful things he never fails to do for us whenever we turn to him for assistance.

 

Catholic Meditation - 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C

By Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, October 06, 2013, as the 27^th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “Within your will, O Lord, all things are established and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all. Amen."

In the first reading, the prophet Habakkuk screams at God and challenges him to tell him why his people have been suffering for so long while their oppressors go largely unharmed. Even though he admits that his people have sinned, he wonders if God is going to punish them through the actions of people who are even worse sinners than God’s people. God tells him that it is not the power of darkness that gets the ultimate victory but the final outcome will be the triumph of justice. God’s ways are not ours. In the second reading, Saint Paul tells his assistant Timothy to boldly proclaim Christ. The Holy Spirit has given him the mandate to preach the Gospel and so he should do so without fear because the same Spirit will give him the courage he needs for his mission. He should imitate him [Paul] who, even though he is in chains, continues to preach Christ, in season and out of season, notwithstanding the hardships that go with it. In Saint Luke’s Gospel, Christ is still on his way to Jerusalem where his passion and death await him. He continues to prepare his disciples for their mission after he is no longer with them. The apostles, conscious of their weak faith, make this wonderful prayer: ‘Lord, increase our faith!’ A prayer we should all make ours today because, just as Jesus, on a number of occasions, calls his disciples men of little faith, he also calls us ‘men and women of little faith’. Don’t we too, like his disciples, tend to worry too much about the future, about what is going to happen to us? If only we had faith as small as the mustard seed, we would not worry about little things. And who can give us such faith except Christ Jesus our Lord?  

So let us pray in the course of this Eucharist for the grace to follow Jesus ever more closely and love him ever more dearly since he alone can increase our faith in the only living God. Amen.