Christ Our King

Usually when we hear ‘King,’ we might imagine a throne, a crown, a sword, perhaps an emperor waiting for everyone to shout, "Hail, O King!" It happens even now. But if that's what we imagine about Christ, we have missed the entire point of this Feast.

When this Feast was established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, the world was in a terrible crisis. The world was consumed by aggressive nationalism, militarism in different parts of Europe, godless secularism, and rising dictatorships like Nazism and Communism. These movements placed the nation or the state on a throne, demanding absolute loyalty. This was a crisis that crushed individual conscience and setting the stage for the devastation of World War II.

The Church was challenged on every front: secularists tried to keep God out of education and public life, and dictators persecuted anyone who gave their ultimate loyalty to the Pope instead of the State.

Initially​, to protect itself and its members, the Church also adopted the authoritarian mindset of the age. It ​c​entralised power, focusing heavily on strict obedience and hierarchical command. It developed a ‘siege mentality,’ where it saw the world outside as an enemy to be defended against, sometimes leading it to act rigidly and even condemn progress, as seen in the Syllabus of Errors Pope Pius IX in 1864. Thus, In fighting a political dictatorship, the Church sometimes began to look a little too much like a militant, authoritarian structure itself. There were revivalist groups and movements ​t​hat adopted military-like dresses and lifestyle​s and continued a language of defeating and conquering.

Christ’s Kingship is fundamentally unlike any power structure on earth. As the Firstborn of all creation, His authority is cosmic and sustaining. It is lifegiving which is of greatest importance. He is the one ​w​ho holds all things together. He does not rule through force; He rules in Truth, Love, and Life. It was not a nostalgic celebration, reclaiming the lost glory of the church or the return of Christendom.

He doesn’t want ‘Hail, O King’ praises, nor greeting with victory symbols and banners. He wants to be greeted by the simple, embodied acts of tenderness, care, and service. Look at the famous passage from Matthew 25: "I was hungry and you gave me food... naked and you clothed me, I was condemned​, you came near to me.” This Kingship is defined by vulnerable service, seen in the self-emptying love of the Cross. This is the authority of life and sustenance, unlike the dictatorial power that only controls and exploits. The ultimate celebration of Christ’s rule is not a political or religious ceremony. It is the radical act of recognizing and serving the King recognised within the most marginalized person. When we live out and offer the promises of the beatitudes, we are actually saying, ‘Hail, O King,’ to Christ Himself in human form. When we clothe the naked or visit the sick, we are not performing mere charity; we are literally recognizing and serving the King dwelling within the marginalized people. This is the ultimate celebration of Christ’s rule: making His presence visible by identifying Him in each of us. When the good Samaritan cared for the wounded man, his oil and wine and the care was really welcoming to the Son of Man. This style of kingship is the authority of care and nurturing, life and sustenance, unlike dictatorial power, which controls and exploits.  

The relevance of the feast today is the call for every Christian to make Christ's Kingly nature visible in their daily deeds. Christ's Kingship for our Age of Humanity is founded on human action and social structures rather than seeing him as a mythic hero or author of commands. His Kingship applied to our own Self counters our individualism, greed, and indifference. Accusation, condemnation, and cursing are ruling styles, but not of Christ. So, it is an invitation for us to give up attitudes of judgment, condemnation, or separation. In our age of misinformation, where ruling happens through curated narratives or propaganda, Christ’s rule in truth challenges us to guard against siding with these elements.

But, if we truly desire this to be a reality in our lives and in the Church, we must abandon the image of an emperor’s rule and reimagine Christ’s kingship as the author of life and existence.

The Last Day

 We hear so much nowadays about the Last Days. Are we really living in the end times? Many people anxiously look for answers in headlines about disasters, wars, political chaos, or economic collapse. They worry about the next earthquake, the next tsunami, or the appearance of some asteroids. Let us be clear: The true signs of Christ’s coming are not in the tremors of the earth, but in our readiness to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

How far have we allowed ourselves to be transformed into His likeness? Of course, we are not fully grown into Christ.  But every day, every moment brings an extraordinary opportunity once again. It is the chance to listen to the greeting of grace and receive Christ – His nature, His love, and His truth – into our own flesh and blood. Christ’s coming is a great revelation of Him in us, in others, and in the entire creation.  Being one in him, we know him in everything and in everyone.

Presentation of Mary and of ours

The Kingdom of God is like a great treasure hidden in a field. God placed a great treasure in Mary. She was ‘full of grace.’ But her greatness was not just in receiving the treasure; it was in preserving that grace responsibly and offering a complete cooperation with God’s will. Mary offered herself in total surrender for her entire life, even when that purpose led to the uncertainty of the Cross. Amidst our daily struggles, our exhaustion, and the brokenness of relationships, how do we emulate this divine cooperation? Mary was offered in the temple as a custom, but, we resent ourselves to God in our daily life. Our temple is often filled with anxiety, stress, and noise. Our cooperation is not about superhuman effort; it is about a sincere Surrender to the chaos and pain of the present moment.

Let us stop measuring our daily obedience against a grand, future plan. Instead, practice the surrender in different moments of our day. When the traffic jam ignites our anger, when the colleague exploits our patience, when failure crushes our spirit, let us say, "Lord, I offer these to your purpose." This surrender creates a space for the grace to work. The ultimate question then becomes: Have we given birth to Christ? To "give birth to Christ" means that our cooperation has become so complete that Christ’s nature - His love, patience, mercy, and truth—is made visible in our own actions. If we have truly consented, surrendered, and actively cooperated with grace, then our lives should manifest His Presence.

Stop being used

It is deeply painful when we come to realise that we are being used or victimized, whether that is happening at home, at work, or within our community. We act with good intentions, but someone is taking advantage of our goodwill. We often feel crushed, but at the same time we are paralyzed, hesitating to say ‘no’ because we fear the rejection from these people whom we helped or served. First of all, let us bring into our own awareness what violation we are really undergoing; don’t just suffer. Define it clearly: ‘They use my time, my commitment, my work in fact for their own benefit.’ They speak high ideals - good for humanity, service to God and so on, but it looks like our commitment does not yield the promised good. Perhaps through the abuse of power or manipulation of beliefs, they have violated a healthy boundary set to protect our time, energy, feelings, and resources. A healthy boundary protects our inherent worth, and identifying the violation of this boundary is an act of love for oneself and necessary self-justice.

Taking courage means reclaiming our space and setting clear limits on our time and availability. True kindness and generosity can never be built on compulsion or force, nor should it lead to our exhaustion. Take courage and guard the boundary, its not being selfish, but stopping allowing someone using our goodwill and service. We decide to stop doing that for our own good. Continuing to do it is never a sacrifice. There may be occasions where we are highly vulnerable – under the clutch of a powerful exploiter or unable to escape. In such systems, direct confrontation is impossible and unsafe. Here, the necessity of seeking guidance is important: a trusted counselor, therapist, or a spiritual guide is essential for processing trauma and ensuring protection.

All these processes are sustained by Divine Grace. Grace may not become a sudden solution, but as an ever-present strength. Grace never demands that we passively suffer every harm; instead, it offers the internal capacity to hold onto our inherent value even when we are trapped and externally powerless. For the truly helpless, Grace offers the constancy of a presence. This presence offers the recognition that we are loved and valued, even in this condition. The inherent worth that Grace constantly reminds us of is the sustenance until the day we can fully walk free.

From Silent Suffering to Self-Compassion

Often the pain of neglect or rejection breaks our hearts. The care we receive may not be meeting our need and desire for an intimate bond. It may be familial, professional or social. Should we just suffer the pain of avoidance, and rejection or face it? To treat this pain, perhaps we cant expect others to change and care for us, or to ensure affection and warmth. We must first affirm our own inherent value and move from silent suffering into self-care and self-compassion. Let us begin with naming what we really go through instead of bearing an unnamed burden. Maybe we need to converse with them whether our feelings are reasonable and worthy of acknowledgment.

To root our worth deeply, let us give the care we long for. Welcome, accept, and find the worth. Let us be compassionate to ourselves, and take courage to speak out without placing blame on those who hurt. Tell “I feel hurt when ... rather than pointing to other person's failure like “You never care ...” Don’t expect that they will begin to care for us. We have found a new strength. Ultimately, let us immerse our efforts of self-nurturing in Divine Care, where we are perfectly and unconditionally cared for. In our body, in our burdens, failings the divine life finds a dwelling place. Divine care is uniquely offered through our own self-nurturing before it comes through any human relationship. Grace grants us the capacity to believe we are the Beloved, even when human relations often disappoint. We transform the wound of neglect and rejection into the holy meeting place of self-compassion and limitless divine love, receiving a permanent source of consolation and comfort.

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🎬 दुःखों में, हर क्षण, सहारा तेरा।

Rest: The Tender Touch of Life

‘Rest in peace’ is not a farewell, but an invitation. Being within the harshness of daily burdens or facing the cold responses from friendships or relationships, tenderness, gentleness, compassion, and personal care may be often absent. How deeply are we exhausted, burdened or stressed? Rest that Jesus offers is a tender touch that acknowledges and values our weariness and fears. Grace is the divine capacity to lift what we cannot carry. The burden remains a part of the human experience, but grace lightens the crushing aspect of the stress. It can settle our restlessness and grant peace. It does not mean that we can simply watch things happening, the touch of grace makes our efforts sustainable, not the excuse for committed labour. So, rest truly comes in peace, after fruitful labour, a fruitful life. At the end of the day, listen ‘rest in peace,’ and at the end of life, listen ‘rest in peace.’

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Living Church

Is the Church just an institution? No. Its true nature is Motherhood, defined by tenderness and healing. As the Body of Christ, the Church holds both the divine life of the Holy Spirit and our human burdens – our sweat, our pain, our tears. We don't receive grace just for ourselves. We rely on radical interdependence, nourishing one another to build the community. The Church must be a home and a womb where everyone can be reborn in Christ. Not just by her title, but by her nature and inherent attitude, the Church must be welcoming, caring, and healing. Only through this tenderness can the Church truly be called a Mother.

Just like Christ, the Church, as the Body of Christ, possesses both human and divine dimensions. The Holy Spirit fills the Church with divine life, meaning we live by grace. Yet, we live bearing our burdens, pains, and emptiness; we sweat and weep. We, together, make up the Church, and the holiness of this Body shines brightly in our honest living and radical interdependence. Crucially, the graces we receive are not meant for ourselves alone; they run throughout the Body, nourishing and completing one another, thereby building up the community. Whether as a teacher, a scientist, a watchman, a preacher or a priest, we participate equally in the holiness of God, sustained by mutual grace.

Taking Mother Mary as the type of the Church, the entire Body, including all its members, cooperates with the will of God through this active interdependence. In doing so, we continue the life of Christ, being his own Body. That Body is the temple where God dwells; there we worship and adore God. It is Christ who is the sole truth of the Church. Consequently, the Church’s vital life and unity are threatened by any single person, devotion, or ideology that claims to be the only way. Such exclusive tendencies, by fragmenting the Body, deprive the Church of its fundamental capacity to be a Mother. The Church exists as a home and a womb where everyone can find a place and everyone can be reborn in Christ. If the Church is to embody this maternal nature, each member must strive to personalize and live out these welcoming and self-giving attitudes in their own lives.

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Grief: A holy sorrow opening to grace

Grief is not a failure or a sign of weakness; it is the most natural and necessary response to loss. When we experience the death of a loved one or endure the breaking of an intimate relationship, our pain is truly an echo of our love. Far from being mere gloom or sadness, this sorrow becomes a holy sorrow when strengthened by Christian hope. This hope is far more than simple optimism or wishful thinking; it is an openness to grace – a divine power to move us from the emptiness of loss toward the fullness of the life we are still called to live.

If unchecked, however, grief can become destructive, leading to an attachment to the pain that chains us to the past. Even if the loss stems from a painful opportunity missed, a personal mistake, or a wrong choice, the ultimate focus must remain the life expected, not what was lost. Let us take courage to acknowledge the loss and, with what is gone, undergo a graceful death in the spirit, so that we may be truly free to enter into a greater measure of life.

Readiness to die: Receive a newer life

Life goes through beautiful moments of surrender, moments of offering. In fact, they are moments that we find that our life had flowered and borne fruits. There had to be a sacrificial death we had to undergo for this. Willingness to die brings the newer form of life which we may not have even imagined. Death is not just the last moment of our life, it is the ultimate moment of surrender, placing our life, past, present, and future, entirely into God’s mercy. Jesus died. One who has died once cannot die again. Readiness to die is a power we gain. In serving, helping, forgiving, in letting go of things, in accepting a painful moment, there is a graceful death, a beautiful surrender, a self-offering that gives us a newer life.

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Enter heaven now

Hell is “the ultimate consequence of sin itself … rather than a place, hell indicates the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the source of all life and joy,” stated Pope John Paul II in his General Audience on July 28, 1999. Is it a state that we enter into only after death? At every life choice we have a choice for or against grace, for or against Christ. If we have begun our life of grace there is already heaven that we have entered into - the life, the presence of God. Perhaps there is state of hell too in us (that separated state) since we have not been completely filled by grace. Since two possibilities are there to keep away from grace, deliberately and due to inability, it necessitates a community dimension of the reception of grace. Others facilitate one to be open for grace. One who denies grace cuts oneself off from the total reality, and that is only emptiness. Because, together we have the fullness of life. We speak of eternal death and eternal darkness, similarly we can imagine of the possibility of nothingness and emptiness. By denial of grace we chose for this emptiness. If hell as a place is not there, is it leading to a lawlessness? Not at all! It further adds extra responsibility to build a filial relationship with God irrespective of the fear of punishment. That will check how important and valuable God/Christ is in our lives.

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Return to the earth: Not a curse, a call

Return to the earth is not about perishability, but as transformation and a new possibility—simply a re-entry into the cycle of life’s renewal. This natural process shows also a soul-forming process in us here; it fundamentally rejects the view that the world is full of evil. The Earthly life, with its struggles, choices, and relationships, is the necessary environment for our growth into the image of Christ. Our moral choices, love, pain, and mercy are the crucible and the clay that actively shape our eternal character. Every bit of the world, its history, structures, and choices have shaped our souls. Some are created, some are brutally destroyed. Those whom we intend to desroy are essential for the completion of our own souls. The earth has yielded its fruit; in us, we are born of the earth and we return to it. Therefore, we must see in us the flowering of the earth which God has beautifully arranged. It is not a place Satan fills with lures and temptations. The earth and our own body are the sacrament of God’s love. To reject or devalue the Earthly life as a halt in a strange world is to devalue the very environment God chose for our formation. The overemphasis on the perishability of earthly life is something that tragically undervalues God’s creation and the profound work accomplished here. Therefore, let us approach our temporal lives not with hatred, but with reverence, recognizing in every struggle and joy the ongoing, sacred work of the creator.

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In exile? Live the freedom

In many ways, our faith has carried a sense of sadness; the feeling that this world is a spiritual prison, a "valley of tears," and that we are merely "exiles" counting the days until we finally escape to our true home. Christ has given a new vision to see the world, not as a broken place we must flee, but as the very place where we find the Father's home. The peace, the provision, the welcome, and the safety of Heaven are not purely future promises; they are the present spiritual reality available to us here and now. This means practicing the awareness that God is not up there in a distant, unreachable heaven, but here, in the quiet of our kitchen, the chaos of our workday, and the silence of our prayer. If we spend our entire lives feeling exiled and miserable, longing for death to simply rescue us from a painful existence, then we misunderstand the gift of Christ. Death cannot be seen as a liberation from earthly life, because our life is already meant to be lived in the freedom of the Father's home. Death does not free us into a perfect world. We must learn to live the freedom of the father’s home which may grow and sprout even after death.

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🎬यह जग कारागार नहीं!

Contemplation in Service

Martin de Porres, a Dominican lay brother, spent his days in the infirmary, caring for the sick, and feeding the poor. He was known for his charity, mercy, and service, extending his love even to animals and nature. Cats and rats ate together in his presence. Martin contemplated the Truth not as a concept, not as an ideal, but as an encounter.

When Martin knelt to clean a wound, he was not just performing a medical act; he was meeting Christ in the suffering face of the poor. Through compassion he saw in his heart the divine Truth being revealed. When he forgave those who insulted him or served those society had condemned, Martin showed that Truth is not about strict judgment, but about boundless acceptance. His humble and tireless work was his deepest form of study and contemplation.

We often associate Truth with high ideals and complex systems of thought. We may be happy with books and websites. If you want to see the true face of Christ, the Veritas, look into the face of your struggling neighbor, extend your hands in service, show mercy, and bring peace. You will find the face of Christ being revealed in and through you.

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Mater Populi Fidelis

The title ‘Mater Populi Fidelis’ (Mother of the faithful People of God) is essential for clearly defining Mary’s role within the Church. It is also essential for addressing concerns that other Marian titles might distort the reality of Christ as the unique Redeemer and Mediator. The word ‘faithful’ (Fidelis) signifies loyalty and belief, immediately placing Mary in the order of grace as the first and most perfect exemplar of this virtue. Mary’s entire mission – from the Annunciation to the foot of the Cross – is defined by her free, continuous ‘Yes’ to God’s will; she models the perfect, responsive human participation in the divine plan. Consequently, the Church views her as the one who not only birthed Christ but also remained a worthy vessel of grace for all humanity, making her the mother of all believers who live by this foundational grace. This places Mary firmly within the Mystical Body of Christ and ensures that her unique motherhood extends to all members who share in the grace of Christ.

Mary’s relationship with the faithful is by grace, not through her independent power. None of the effects of devotion to her has a mechanical function. Mary helps us with maternal assistance and intercession flowing entirely from the grace of God and the unique role she received as the Mother of Christ. The title ‘Co-redemptrix,’ despite its historical use, tragically obscures the unique origin of Redemption because it is exaggerated as though Mary’s work is necessary to complete Christ’s perfect sacrifice. Since Christ’s redemptive work was perfect and needs no addition, embracing such language shifts Mary from a receptive position to one potentially parallel to Christ, undermining the truth that ‘everything comes from Him.’ Mary’s unique and indispensable cooperation in the work of salvation is entirely dependent upon and derived from Christ. She does not possess an independent power to offer grace.

Her essential contribution lies in her freely given assent (the Fiat at the Annunciation) and her profound spiritual solidarity. In these moments, she united her human will and suffering to the singular, salvific act of Christ. This is best understood as cooperation in the reception and application of the fruits of redemption, not as an independent cause. Christ and Mary do not equally merit or accomplish salvation for humanity; Christ alone is the Redeemer. Mary's participation is subordinate and derivative; her role does not in any way necessitate, complete, or perfect Christ’s own sacrifice, which was fully sufficient in itself.

Similarly, the term ‘Mediatrix’ is found problematic because, strictly speaking, no mediation in grace exists apart from Christ. Mary’s function is best explained by terms like ‘cooperation,’ ‘maternal assistance,’ and ‘manifold intercession.’ While the term ‘Mediatrix’ may be used in a clearly subordinate and participatory manner – meaning her help is secondary to Christ’s, and she is simply sharing in His single work, acting as a channel or helper – if not carefully defined, it can suggest that Mary replaces or diminishes Christ’s unique mediation. After her model, irrespective of nationality, language or faith, anyone who cooperates with grace, lives in goodwill and peace, lives the faithfulness of the people of God.

Therefore, devotion to her is a spiritual act that operates through faith and prayer, not through a magical or automatic dispensing of favours independent of Christ, the sole source of all grace. The significance and necessity of the document stem directly from the global reality that the tendency to push Mary’s powers or position toward deification is a pervasive theological and spiritual distortion. This happens when piety moves from seeking Mary as a refuge and source of tenderness to treating her as a power source independent of or equal to Christ. For example, in some Marian shrines and popular movements, we see the anthropological distortion where salvation is presented as a transaction secured primarily through specific Marian rituals, sidelining the essential role of personal commitment to Christ’s teachings. There is also the Christological distortion, where miracle claims associated with Marian statues or certain prayers become the central focus of faith, effectively draining true Christian belief and turning it into a cult that obscures the centrality of the Incarnate Son. Furthermore, the ecclesiological distortion occurs when devotion to Mary becomes the primary marker of Catholic identity, overriding the unity and sacramental life of the wider Church. All these cases, there may be Eucharistic celebration and adoration, preaching on Jesus and claim that they have not distorted. When certain titles, practices are misinterpreted or pushed to a dogmatic or devotional extreme, they do create severe imbalances. Therefore, the goal of ‘Mater Populi Fidelis’ is not to limit Marian devotion, but to sustain and accompany the love of Mary by grounding it firmly in Scripture, Tradition, and the central mystery of Christ. This approach ensures that Mary’s honour remains true to her unique but receptive role of an outstanding faithful.

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