About the Mass: Opening Prayer Solemnity of Christ the King Year A

The Opening Prayer for the Solemnity of Christ the King reads as follows:

Let us pray,

(that all people will acclaim Jesus as Lord)

Almighty and merciful God,

You break the power of evil

and make all things new

in Your Son Jesus Christ, the King of the universe.

May all in Heaven and earth acclaim Your glory

and never cease to praise You. 

In making this prayer tangible, the following reflection questions emerged.

1. How do I acclaim Jesus as Lord in my life?
2. How do I encourage others to acclaim Jesus as Lord in their lives?
3. Name one area of my life which I will endeavour to place Jesus as Lord during this coming week?
4. What does it mean to me to acclaim the glory of Christ?
5. How can I never cease to praise You in my life this coming week?

In today's Gospel, Jesus gives us the blueprint for what we should do and why we should do it in order to be placed on His right at the end of time.  Jesus makes it clear that our motivation for helping others is not self gratification or feeling good about ourselves.  No, the purpose of our action is to remember that when we help others, we are to see the face of Christ in those we help, and our actions therefore is done out of love for Christ.

We may think that we do not have opportunities to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick or imprisoned. In fact we do have many opportunites given to us provided we are alert enough and willing to act upon it.  For example, we may think that we cannot help others who are suffering from some natural diaster because we are not physically present to them.  However, we can pray for these people and also provide according to our means, financial assistance.

We may be able to clothe the naked very well if we 

• look into our wardropes and choose outfits that we like to give to charity.  
• choose to buy a simple new outfit to give to charity.

We may feed the hungry when if we:

• prepare soup/casserole/dessert to a family who is grieving in our parish.
• make a cake/slice for a parish cake stall in aid of charity.
• give appropriate advice to someone confused and worried.
• give a hug to someone in need of love and support.
• Help brainstorm with a work colleague on their new project.

Likewise when we visit the sick or imprisoned, we may not be able to visit those in hospital or in prison as such, but there are many in our communities that are sick or imprisoned in some way.

This gospel therefore is one of action, but unless we have first contemplated the face of Christ, we will fail to see the face of Christ in our brothers/sisters- those whom Jesus says are the 'least of my brothers''.

As we come to the end of this liturgical year, we may wish to reflect on how we have grown  spiritually and what areas of our lives need further growth.  We may wish to consider carefully this week devising a plan for the coming liturgical year and set some simple and achievable goals.  As we look back on the year, we may become discouraged in what we have not done or achieved this year.  We can ask God's forgiveness and  make amends where possible. Let us not waste this precious week.  Let us sing in our hearts this coming week:

''Whatsoever you do to the least of my people,

that you do unto ME. ''