Novena to Christ the King 2021: He Calls Us Friends
Novena Prayers
Day 1 | Friday, November 12, 2020
Day 2 | Saturday, November 13, 2020
Day 3 | Sunday, November 14, 2020
Day 4 | Monday, November 15, 2020
Day 5 | Tuesday, November 16, 2020
Day 6 | Wednesday, November 17, 2020
Day 7 | Thursday, November 18, 2020
Day 8 | Friday, November 19, 2020
Day 9 | Saturday, November 20, 2020
DAY 1 | Friday, November 12, 2021
Christ the King, our friend, goes out to meet us
Opening prayer
Jesus Christ, as we prepare to celebrate your feast as King of the universe, we want to accept your invitation to be your friends, so that you may reign in our hearts and in the whole world.
“In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4: 10).
The God of Christians is the God of encounter, the God who became man to live with us, in our reality. He is the God who reveals his Name, who shows us his face, who takes on a body. The God who wants to have a relationship with us and created us with the ability to dialogue and commune with Him. That is why he seeks us and is not satisfied with remaining distant and unknown.
Jesus Christ, you have loved us first and you go out every day to meet us because you want to be our friend, without our having done anything to deserve it. We ask you for the grace to allow your love to meet us and to go out to meet those who have need of us.
Closing prayer
Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are happy because we are yours and because you have called us to share in the greatest and most beloved desires of your heart. In response to the love you have shown us, we come to pledge our friendship to you.
We are yours, Lord, and yours we want to be. We offer our lives so that all people might know and love you; because we want you to reign in their hearts.
By ourselves, Lord, we can do nothing; but we know that you are always with us. You also give us your Blessed Mother to be our mother too. In her presence and under her protection; we offer you, Lord, our youth and our fidelity.
Christ the King, our friend, come reign in our hearts and in the whole world!
DAY 2 | Saturday, November 13, 2021
Christ the King, our friend, looks on us with love
Opening prayer
Jesus Christ, as we prepare to celebrate your feast as King of the universe, we want to accept your invitation to be your friends, so that you may reign in our hearts and in the whole world.
Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.” Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore” (Jn 8: 10-11).
“Jesus’ gaze goes beyond sins and prejudices.… he does not stop at appearances, but looks at the heart.” Pope Francis, Angelus 10/30/2016.
The gaze of Jesus changes our life. It allows us to recognize that we have value and dignity. It heals us, transforms us, and makes us grow. Under this loving gaze of God, the human person can discover their own identity and become more and more authentically “themselves.”
Jesus Christ, we discover in your merciful eyes that we are very beloved sons and daughters and that you accept us just as we are. We ask you for the grace to learn how to look on others with your gaze of love as well.
Closing prayer
Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are happy because we are yours and because you have called us to share in the greatest and most beloved desires of your heart. In response to the love you have shown us, we come to pledge our friendship to you.
We are yours, Lord, and yours we want to be. We offer our lives so that all people might know and love you; because we want you to reign in their hearts.
By ourselves, Lord, we can do nothing; but we know that you are always with us. You also give us your Blessed Mother to be our mother too. In her presence and under her protection; we offer you, Lord, our youth and our fidelity.
Christ the King, our friend, come reign in our hearts and in the whole world!
DAY 3 | Sunday, November 14, 2021
Christ the King, our friend, calls us by our name
Opening prayer
Jesus Christ, as we prepare to celebrate your feast as King of the universe, we want to accept your invitation to be your friends, so that you may reign in our hearts and in the whole world.
“When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”” (Lk 19: 5).
“Each one of us is God’s love story. He calls each of us by our name: he knows us by name; he looks at us; he waits for us; he forgives us; he is patient with us.” Pope Francis, General Audience 05/17/2017
As with Zaccheus, Mary Magdalene, and the apostles, Jesus calls each of us by name to make a pledge of friendship and entrust us with a mission. The name is the icon of the person. Calling someone by name indicates the deep and intimate knowledge that God has of each of us1. Friendship with Christ is always a personal relationship. In the midst of the reality we live in, Jesus says our name, calls us friends, and invites us to know him and share his life.
Jesus Christ, when you call us by name you show us that we are not unimportant or unknown to you, and this closeness encourages us to go out of ourselves to follow you. Grant us the grace to know you better every day and say your name with our life, so that you will be the one who works in us.
Closing prayer
Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are happy because we are yours and because you have called us to share in the greatest and most beloved desires of your heart. In response to the love you have shown us, we come to pledge our friendship to you.
We are yours, Lord, and yours we want to be. We offer our lives so that all people might know and love you; because we want you to reign in their hearts.
By ourselves, Lord, we can do nothing; but we know that you are always with us. You also give us your Blessed Mother to be our mother too. In her presence and under her protection; we offer you, Lord, our youth and our fidelity.
Christ the King, our friend, come reign in our hearts and in the whole world!
DAY 4 | Monday, November 15, 2021
Christ the King, our friend, invites us to friendship with Him
Opening prayer
Jesus Christ, as we prepare to celebrate your feast as King of the universe, we want to accept your invitation to be your friends, so that you may reign in our hearts and in the whole world.
“I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15).
“Friendship is so important that Jesus calls himself a friend: “I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends” (Jn 15:15). By the gift of his grace, we are elevated in such a way that we truly become his friends. With the same love that Christ pours out on us, we can love him in return and share his love with others, in the hope that they too will take their place in the community of friendship he established.” Pope Francis. Christus Vivit, 153. In this relationship of friendship, the human person realizes that they can love because they have been loved first (cf. 1 Jn 4:19) and have been called by God in the depths of their heart to correspond to that love.
Lord Jesus, you go out to meet us because you want to be our friend. You call us, choose us, promise us your Kingdom, and invite us to follow you. Help us to say “yes” to this invitation always, and to allow you to enter our hearts so that by fostering this friendship every day you can pour out on us your very life.
Closing prayer
Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are happy because we are yours and because you have called us to share in the greatest and most beloved desires of your heart. In response to the love you have shown us, we come to pledge our friendship to you.
We are yours, Lord, and yours we want to be. We offer our lives so that all people might know and love you; because we want you to reign in their hearts.
By ourselves, Lord, we can do nothing; but we know that you are always with us. You also give us your Blessed Mother to be our mother too. In her presence and under her protection; we offer you, Lord, our youth and our fidelity.
Christ the King, our friend, come reign in our hearts and in the whole world!
DAY 5 | Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Christ the King, our friend, reveals the treasures of his heart to us
Opening prayer
Jesus Christ, as we prepare to celebrate your feast as King of the universe, we want to accept your invitation to be your friends, so that you may reign in our hearts and in the whole world.
“I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father” (Jn 15: 15).
Jesus Christ has called us friends and wants to share the greatest and most beloved ideals of His Heart with us. In the Heart of Christ, that is what we are: his friends. That is what He wants to be for each one of us. Through this human and divine Heart we can enter into the heart of God, who is meek, humble, and merciful, who is full of compassion for us and wants to establish his Kingdom of love in our hearts.
Lord Jesus, just as you remain in the Father, help us to remain always united to you, so that your law remains written on our hearts and we may be witnesses of your love.
Closing prayer
Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are happy because we are yours and because you have called us to share in the greatest and most beloved desires of your heart. In response to the love you have shown us, we come to pledge our friendship to you.
We are yours, Lord, and yours we want to be. We offer our lives so that all people might know and love you; because we want you to reign in their hearts.
By ourselves, Lord, we can do nothing; but we know that you are always with us. You also give us your Blessed Mother to be our mother too. In her presence and under her protection; we offer you, Lord, our youth and our fidelity.
Christ the King, our friend, come reign in our hearts and in the whole world!
DAY 6 | Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Christ the King, our friend, invites us to be friends with each other
Opening prayer
Jesus Christ, as we prepare to celebrate your feast as King of the universe, we want to accept your invitation to be your friends, so that you may reign in our hearts and in the whole world.
“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (Jn 13: 34).
Friendship with Christ is contagious. To be friends of Christ leads us to be friends in Christ with one another.
“Love of God and love of neighbor are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment. But both live from the love of God who has loved us first. No longer is it a question, then, of a “commandment” imposed from without and calling for the impossible, but rather of a freely-bestowed experience of love from within, a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others. Love grows through love. Love is “divine” because it comes from God and unites us to God; through this unifying process it makes us a “we” which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is “all in all”” (1 Cor 15:28). Benedict XVI, Deus caritas est, 18.
Jesus Christ, help us to experience your love, so that by knowing that we are profoundly loved by you we may radiate this love to those around us and go out to meet our brothers and sisters like good Samaritans.
Closing prayer
Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are happy because we are yours and because you have called us to share in the greatest and most beloved desires of your heart. In response to the love you have shown us, we come to pledge our friendship to you.
We are yours, Lord, and yours we want to be. We offer our lives so that all people might know and love you; because we want you to reign in their hearts.
By ourselves, Lord, we can do nothing; but we know that you are always with us. You also give us your Blessed Mother to be our mother too. In her presence and under her protection; we offer you, Lord, our youth and our fidelity.
Christ the King, our friend, come reign in our hearts and in the whole world!
DAY 7 | Thursday, November 18, 2021
Christ the King, our friend, transforms us
Opening prayer
Jesus Christ, as we prepare to celebrate your feast as King of the universe, we want to accept your invitation to be your friends, so that you may reign in our hearts and in the whole world.
“Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5).
“By giving us this new commandment, he asks us to love one another, not only and not so much with our love, but with his, which the Holy Spirit instills in our hearts if we invoke him with faith.” Pope Francis, Regina Coeli 05/19/2019
The love of Christ is what transforms us, changes our lives and enables us to go out of ourselves to give ourselves to others like He did for us. Therefore, the transformation of the world begins with one’s own heart. The one who has allowed Christ to reign in his heart is transformed and transforms the world around him.
Jesus, your friendship makes us good, your love transforms us. We offer you our hearts so that you may renew them and so that you may dwell in us.
Closing prayer
Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are happy because we are yours and because you have called us to share in the greatest and most beloved desires of your heart. In response to the love you have shown us, we come to pledge our friendship to you.
We are yours, Lord, and yours we want to be. We offer our lives so that all people might know and love you; because we want you to reign in their hearts.
By ourselves, Lord, we can do nothing; but we know that you are always with us. You also give us your Blessed Mother to be our mother too. In her presence and under her protection; we offer you, Lord, our youth and our fidelity.
Christ the King, our friend, come reign in our hearts and in the whole world!
DAY 8 | Friday, November 19, 2021
Christ the King, our friend, sends us out
Opening prayer
Jesus Christ, as we prepare to celebrate your feast as King of the universe, we want to accept your invitation to be your friends, so that you may reign in our hearts and in the whole world.
“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain” (Jn 15: 16).
“Christ invites all to “go out” and encounter others, he sends us, he asks us to move in order to spread the joy of the Gospel!” Pope Francis, General Audience 10/16/2013
To be a friend of Christ is to be a disciple, to accept the invitation to follow him. Nevertheless, no one can say that they are a disciple if they are not also an apostle, that is, a witness. As with the first disciple and with all the saints, the adolescent in ECYD who has encountered Jesus Christ does not remain indifferent. The encounter with the Lord moves them, transforms them, and sets them in motion.
Jesus Christ, you call us, but you also send us. Help us to be faithful witnesses of your Word so that the joy of your Kingdom may reach all people.
Closing prayer
Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are happy because we are yours and because you have called us to share in the greatest and most beloved desires of your heart. In response to the love you have shown us, we come to pledge our friendship to you.
We are yours, Lord, and yours we want to be. We offer our lives so that all people might know and love you; because we want you to reign in their hearts.
By ourselves, Lord, we can do nothing; but we know that you are always with us. You also give us your Blessed Mother to be our mother too. In her presence and under her protection; we offer you, Lord, our youth and our fidelity.
Christ the King, our friend, come reign in our hearts and in the whole world!
DAY 9 | Saturday, November 20, 2021
Christ the King, our friend, gives his life to save us
Opening prayer
Jesus Christ, as we prepare to celebrate your feast as King of the universe, we want to accept your invitation to be your friends, so that you may reign in our hearts and in the whole world.
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15: 13).
When did Jesus reveal himself as king? In the event of the Cross! Those who look at the Cross cannot but see the astonishing gratuitousness of love. For a Christian, speaking of power and strength means referring to the power of the Cross, and the strength of Jesus’ love (…) The strength of the Kingdom of Heaven is love, and therefore the kingship of Jesus doesn’t oppress us, but rather frees us from our weaknesses and miseries, encouraging us to walk the path of the good, of reconciliation and of forgiveness. Christ is not a King who dominates us or treats us like subjects. Rather, he raises us to his very dignity. He makes us reign with Him (…) But reigning with Him means serving God and our brothers and sisters in service that flows from love. To serve in love is to reign – this is what Jesus teaches us.” Pope Francis, Angelus 11/22/2015
Jesus Christ, you are the new covenant by which God unites himself with humanity, makes us his family, embraces us and writes his law on our hearts. You are the Lamb who gives himself for our sins, the Friend who gives his life for his friends to save us. We believe in you, Lord, and we want to remain in you. Give us the grace to be faithful witnesses, make your Kingdom of love present in our hearts, in those of all people, and in society.
Closing prayer
Jesus Christ, our Lord and King, we are happy because we are yours and because you have called us to share in the greatest and most beloved desires of your heart. In response to the love you have shown us, we come to pledge our friendship to you.
We are yours, Lord, and yours we want to be. We offer our lives so that all people might know and love you; because we want you to reign in their hearts.
By ourselves, Lord, we can do nothing; but we know that you are always with us. You also give us your Blessed Mother to be our mother too. In her presence and under her protection; we offer you, Lord, our youth and our fidelity.
Christ the King, our friend, come reign in our hearts and in the whole world!
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