Solemnity of Christ the King.

Hallelujah He reigns

Hallelujah The Lord almighty reigns.

            Christ the King for Delhi Archdiocese is the culmination of the year and the announcement of the Christmas season.  Christ the King brings the entire Delhi together as one family.  All the parishes are invited to join in the witnessing of our faith.  Every parish comes together as one family every Sunday.  Within our Small Christian Community we feel the sense of belonging, the feel of one family; we share our joys and sorrows in this family.  Every Sunday we experience the joy of belonging to the Parish church.  We realize that we are part of a bigger family.  It’s a joy to meet our brothers and sisters in parish and share greetings.  We feel the sense of belonging, belonging to a larger family. Once a year we come together on the Feast of Christ the King as one big Diocesan family.  

2.         This year the feast of Christ the King was on 22^nd November, 2015.  It’s a day of rejoicing and proclaiming Jesus as our King.  It’s a day we shout out in joy.  The crowd, the togetherness, the family feeling, being with loved ones, being with those who share the faith, the conviction, and being at home – all brings out the joy in us.  We suddenly realize that we are part of a bigger family, a bigger community, the universal church.  We realize that we are not alone, that we have a family spread over the city, the country, the world, that there is no need to be depressed.  We belong.  It is a day that we meet many of our friends and relatives.  We meet our acquaintances, our ex parishioners, our neighbours, etc.    In the daily rat race we fail to take out time to meet with many whom we want to meet.  The feast of Christ the King brings us all together. 

            What a friend we have in Jesus

            All our sins and grief’s to bear,

            What a privilege to carry,

            Everything to God in prayer.

3.         We are indeed privileged.  We have been blessed with the grace of faith.  We have nothing to fear.  Our Lord will take care of us.  Lets pray for all the prodigal sons and daughters, all those who are not blessed with the faith.  We know how terrible it is to be unbelieving.  It robs us of our peace of mind, it robs us of our family, it robs us the feeling of one with the community. 

You alone are my strength, my shield

To you alone may y spirit yield

You alone are my heart’s desire

And I long to worship thee.

4.         Many of us faithful are embarrassed of our faith.  We are reluctant to profess or even reveal our faith.  It is not considered cool.  Is there an element of fear?   May be in some cases and in some situations.  Christ the King celebration is the professing of our faith, as a community to the world at large.  It should not be construed that we Catholics want to show our strength.  NO.  It is perhaps not even to tell our neighbours that we are Christians and we are proud of it.  I feel that it is an internal joy that brings us out as a community once a year.  It is the urge to share that joy.  The feast is celebrated on the last but one Sunday of November and in Delhi the weather has become cooler.  To spend a Sunday morning out walking in procession is difficult.  We are tempted to stay in bed.  There is no Mass in Church that morning so we have a ready excuse.  Apart from overcoming the laziness or moving from the comfort zone one has to have the courage and conviction to come out, to stand out.  To proclaim your faith you need courage which many of us do not have.  So we bury ourselves under the blanket.

5.         This year there was a big crowd.  It took nearly an hour to move out of St Columba’s school ground and most probably the head of the procession would be walking back into the ground when the last parish would have left the ground.  Don’t know what the general public watching the procession would have felt.  In India where such processions are a common site, it would have generated very little curiosity.  Some may observe the peaceful and prayerful nature of procession.  Some few might have been inconvenienced as there were traffic diversions although in a limited area and only for a limited time. 

6.         The exuberance of the congregation as the Blessed Sacrament was carried into the grounds in a procession was overwhelming.  The Alleluia and the chanting expressed the joy and acknowledgement of Christ as the King.  St John’s Parish, Palam Colony led this final stage of the procession with flags and ceremonial umbrellas.  After benediction the whole community had a meal together.   

             Until next time. Bye