Martin Jumbam

Catholic Meditation – 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, June 28, 2015, as the 13^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “All nations, clap your hands. Shout with a voice of joy to God. Amen.” In the first reading of the day’s Mass, the wise man tells us that God did not bring death into the world because he is the God of the living, not of the dead. Man brought death upon himself through his disobedience to God. Sin, which is the handiwork of Satan, brought about man’s spiritual death and destroyed his life in God. In the second reading, Saint Paul encourages Christian communities to help each other materially because they have received from God the faith which is common to all. Hence, he urges the Greek churches to assist the poverty-stricken church of Jerusalem. The Gospel message from Mark beautifully illustrates the fact that our God is a God of the living and not of the dead. God cures us physically and mentally when our faith is strong. As Jesus tells the woman with the issue of blood: “Daughter, it is your faith that has healed you.” It is also because of the faith Jairus, the Synagogue official, has in Christ that leads our Lord to raise his daughter from the dead.  Let us therefore pray in the course of this Eucharist, for the grace of faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who heals our infirmities, be they physical or moral.

Catholic Meditation: Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B.

Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, June 21, 2015, as the 12^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “The Lord is the strength of his people, a saving refuge for the one he has anointed. Save your people, Lord, and bless your heritage, and govern them for ever! Amen.” 

Catholic Meditation: Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B.

Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church celebrates June 14, 2015 as the 11^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “O Lord, hear my voice, for I have called to you; be my help. Do not abandon or forsake me, O God, my Saviour! Amen.” In this day’s Mass, we see how God always lifts up those who are brought low and makes them the instrument of his saving power. This is seen in the first reading from the prophecy of Ezekiel in which the prophet describes how God will restore Israel from its present state of bondage and bring low those who have conquered and plundered her. He speaks words of consolation to a despondent people in Babylon, reassuring them that God will shelter them because he is true to his promises.

 

Catholic Meditation - Feast of Corpus Christi - Year B

 

Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church celebrates this tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B, as the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, more commonly known by its Latin title, “Corpus Christi”  (the Body of Christ).  The Entrance Antiphon of this day’s Mass says: “The Lord fed his people with the finest wheat and honey; their hunger was satisfied.”

Corpus Christi is a special feast to the Body and Blood of Christ introduced into the calendar of the UniversalChurch in 1264 when Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote the prayers and hymns for this feast.

Church historians tell us that this feast of Corpus Christibecame a mandatory feast in the Roman Church in 1312. But nearly a century earlier, Saint Juliana of Mont Cornillon, promoted a feast to honor the Blessed Sacrament. The story goes that from early age Juliana, who became an Augustinian nun in Liége, France, in 1206, had a great veneration for the Blessed Sacrament, and longed for a special feast in its honor. She had a vision of the Church under the appearance of the full moon having one dark spot, which signified the absence of such a solemnity. She made known her ideas to the Bishop of Liége, who ordered that the feast be celebrated in his diocese.