Martin Jumbam

Catholic Meditation - The Solemnity of All Saints - Year B

Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, November 1, 2015 as the Solemnity of All Saints, year B.  In the Entrance Antiphon we pray: “Let us rejoice in the Lord as we celebrate the feast day in honor of all the saints, at whose festival the angels rejoice and praise the Son of God.  Amen.” All Saints Day is the day on which we, Catholics, celebrate all the saints, known and unknown. It is a surprisingly old feast. It arose out of the Christian tradition of celebrating the martyrdom of saints on the anniversary of their martyrdom. When martyrdoms increased during the persecutions of the late Roman Empire, local dioceses instituted a common feast day in order to ensure that all martyrs, known and unknown, were properly honored.

An arrow in the bow of our Lord.

By Martin Jumbam

 

An address to the graduating pioneer students of John Paul II Institute of Theology (JOPASIT), Kumba Campus at Fiango, Kumba on October 24, 2015.

Your Lordship, Bishop Immanuel Bushu, Bishop of Buea;

Reverend Fathers, Reverend Brothers, Reverend Sisters;

Civil and Religious Authorities, all protocol respected;

Brothers and sisters in the Lord:

I thank Father Herbert Niba, the Director of the John Paul II Institute of Theology of the Diocese of Buea, who asked me to be the guest speaker at the inaugural Mass of this academic year.  I was taken aback by his request and I asked to know why me? His response was that priests had been guest speakers during the past three graduation and inaugural ceremonies and so he thought a member of Christ’s lay-faithful, someone who, in his words, was “immersed in the world as Christ’s feet and hands”, should be given a chance to share his own experiences. I liked the idea of being equated to “Christ’s feet and hands,” so I quickly said, yes, I’ll be with you. And here I am. Me voici, donc à Kumba!

Catholic Meditation – Thirtieth Sunday – Year B

 Martin Jumbam

 Mother Church invites to celebrate Sunday, October 25, 2015 as the thirtieth Sunday in ordinary time, year B.  In the Entrance Antiphon we pray: “Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek always the face of the Lord. Amen.” In the first reading, from the prophecy of Jeremiah, the people of Israel in exile are assured of God’s restoration. They remain dear to God and in spite of decades of waiting, the remnant will return from their distant exile. God will bring them back in a new exodus; he will restore them to their homeland, turning their suffering into joy, as he leads them through the desert and never letting them to be thirsty on the way. 

Catholic Meditation - Twenty Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, October 18, 2015, as the twenty ninth Sunday in ordinary time, year B.  In the Entrance Antiphon we pray: “I call upon you, God, for you will answer me; bend your ear and hear my prayer. Guard me as the pupil of your eye; hide me in the shade of your wings. Amen.”

Cameroon: Difficult Choices in a Failed Democracy (Book Review)

On Wednesday, August 12, 2015, I joined a crowd of book lovers at the Sawa Novotel in Douala for the launch of Professor Tazoacha Asonganyi’s controversial book, Cameroon: Difficult Choices in a Failed Democracy (Memoir). I was allowed a few minutes to give my views on the book and this is what I said.

Catholic Meditation - Twenty Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

 

Martin Jumbam

Mother Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, October 11, 2015, as the twenty eighth Sunday in ordinary time, year B.  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.” In the first reading, from the Book of Wisdom, the wise man shows us King Solomon who tells us that wisdom cannot be compared to any worldly riches, or anything men value a great deal. This wisdom is none other than God’s word awaiting fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who is God’s incarnate wisdom. It manifests itself in the Gospel reading from Mark in which Christ preaches renunciation of worldly goods as a way of gaining heavenly rewards. God’s infinite power operates to save us but we must give up whatever turns us away from Christ. In the second reading the sacred writer of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us that if Christ is so worthy of our faith, then we have to be faithful to obtain the blessing that God gives to those who obey him. Where we have been faithful, Christ’s word saves, but if we have been unfaithful, it condemns. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the courage to renounce whatever hinders us from following Christ, our Saviour.

A letter to the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda on the use of gadgets in Church.

By Martin Jumbam 

Your Excellencies:

Thank you for raising an issue that has been for sometime now quite a thorn in the side of my faith. I am referring to what is becoming an uncontrollable use of modern gadgets in church worship. I don’t know how often I commit the sin of swearing and cursing in church each time someone’s phone goes off near me. Permit me to share some of my personal experiences with you.

Catholic Meditation - Twenty Seventh Sunday - Year B.

 Martin Jumbam

The Universal Church invites us to celebrate Sunday, October 4, 2015, as the twenty seventh Sunday in ordinary time, year B.  In the entrance antiphon we pray: “O Lord, you have given everything its place in the world, and no one can make otherwise. For it is your creation, the heaven and the earth and the stars: you are the Lord of all. Amen.” The Old Testament reading from the Book of Genesis, in the first reading, and the Gospel from Mark talk on the unity of marriage. In a symbolic language, the passage from Genesis speaks of man who was created in intimacy with God and given power over all creation. But man is also a social being and cannot live alone; that is why God creates woman so she can stand at man’s side as an equal and enter into intimate union with him in marriage.  They are to live together as one and what God has put together, let no one put asunder. That is the clear message Jesus gives in the Gospel, where he condemns divorce in very strong terms. Taking the cue from our Lord, the Church upholds that genuine Christian faith and living must support God’s intention that marriage should be the lifelong union of one man and one woman. In the second reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, the sacred writer presents Jesus, the Son of God, as our brother who follows the path of suffering and death so that we may participate in his glory as children of God.