Introduction
In the cycle of catechesis on discernment recently begun by Pope Francis, he explains to us what it means to discern: “In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of discernment with images taken from ordinary life; for example, he describes the fishers who select the good fish and discard the bad ones; or the merchant who knows how to identify, among many pearls, the one of greatest value. Or he who, ploughing a field, comes across something that turns out to be a treasure (cf. Mt 13:44-48).
[…]
The Gospel suggests another important aspect of discernment: it involves the emotions. The one who has found the treasure feels no difficulty in selling everything, so great is his joy (cf. Mt 13:44). The term used by the evangelist Matthew indicates a very special joy, which no human reality can give; and indeed, it recurs in very few other passages of the Gospel, all of which refer to the encounter with God. It is the joy of the wise men when, after a long and arduous journey, they see the star again (cf. Mt 2:10); the joy, it is the joy of the women who return from the empty tomb after hearing the angel’s announcement of the resurrection (cf. Mt 28:8). It is the joy of those who have found the Lord. Making a good decision, a right decision, always leads you to that final joy; perhaps along the way you have to suffer a bit of uncertainty, thinking, seeking, but in the end the right decision blesses you with joy.”[1]
In our daily lives, each one of us is called to an apostolic discernment of reality. We are invited to open our eyes and to contemplate, both within us and around us, the glimpses of the Kingdom, which is actually Christ himself in person, already present and active. Having discovered this treasure, we can better participate in this coming of the Kingdom in the day-to-day life we live, in the lives of others, and in society.
This novena of preparation for the Solemnity of Christ the King takes us step by step through several of the parables of the Kingdom. Through the lens of the parables we ponder the different specific fields of evangelization mentioned in number 11 of the Regnum Christi Federation Statutes, which are the basis for the preparation guidelines of the upcoming 2024 RC General Convention. In this way, the novena seeks to help us to let ourselves be deeply penetrated by Christ’s love for humanity so that He may reign in our hearts, in the hearts of all people and in society (cf. SRCF 13).
Seeking to respond effectively to the principal needs of evangelization in our own sphere of life and without excluding any type of apostolic activity, we undertake initiatives and establish apostolic works directed especially at proclaiming the faith and spreading Catholic doctrine; at the Christian formation and education of children, adolescents and young adults; at the promotion of marriage and the family; at vocation ministry; at the evangelization of the professions, of culture and of the media; and at the promotion of social justice and the practice of the works of mercy. –Statutes of the Regnum Christi Federation 11
[1] Pope Francis, Catechesis on Discernment 1. What does it mean to discern? General Audience, Wednesday August 31st, 2022
Novena Prayers
Day 1 | Friday, November 11, 2022
Day 2 | Saturday, November 12, 2022
Day 3 | Sunday, November 13, 2022
Day 4 | Monday, November 14, 2022
Day 5 | Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Day 6 | Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Day 7 | Thursday, November 17, 2022
Day 8 | Friday, November 18, 2022
Day 9 | Saturday, November 19, 2022
Day 1 • We discover Jesus, the Kingdom incarnate, sowing in the good soil of our hearts
Friday, November 11, 2022
Parable of the sower: Proclamation of the faith and the new evangelization
R/ We want to see you and recognize you, Jesus
V/ You, who are the Kingdom incarnate
“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” Matthew 13:3-8
(pause in silence to let the Word of God penetrate)
Jesus has come to sow, and he sows generously! He always walks with us and does not cease to sow his Kingdom in our hearts.
As a sower who knows his field – his land, the land that is each one of us – the Lord sows in every moment of our lives: He sows in spite of the temptations of the enemy along the way; he sows among the inconsistencies in our surrender, in the stony ground; among the burdens of our worries, and also in the moments when we are receptive and able to welcome His Word. Because, regardless of how we see ourselves or how difficult and arid the terrain sometimes seems, he knows that we are good soil and that there is always some seed that falls in that place where the Kingdom will germinate.
In this parable Jesus tells us that He never tires of sowing, and that we must not cease to proclaim Him so that, through us and in us, He may make Himself present and go out to meet others with all the creative and fruitful power of His love.
Jesus, how do you me want to make you– the Kingdom incarnate – present in this apostolic area of the proclamation of the faith and the new evangelization?
(silent pause for personal prayer)
Final Prayer:
Lord, as Regnum Christi you have entrusted us with the mission of making you present, who are the Kingdom incarnate. Send us your Spirit to discover how you want us to help you respond to the needs that all people, the world, and the Church have for You here and now.
You are the center of our lives, and with renewed love we say to you:
R/ Christ our King!
V/ Thy Kingdom come!
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Day 2 • We discover Jesus, the Kingdom incarnate, making himself present in the small, simple, and every day.
Saturday, November 12, 2022
Parable of the mustard seed: Christian Formation and Education of Children
R/ We want to see you and recognize you, Jesus
V/ You, who are the Kingdom incarnate
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’” Matthew 13:31-32
(pause in silence to let the Word of God penetrate)
There is nothing big that does not start small. In the Kingdom of God, the law of greatness is that of smallness. We each need to be an apostle with a child’s heart. Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 18:3). Children remind us that one of the fundamental laws of the Kingdom is smallness. Through this law of the small and weak we are pierced by the divine power that loves to pour itself into it to transfigure it. Just as the mustard seed, the smallest of seeds, becomes a tree that shelters birds of all species, so is the presence of Christ in me: it grows and strengthens little by little, from small and humble beginnings, until his Kingdom, Christ himself, becomes present without us knowing exactly how.
Jesus, how do you me want to make you– the Kingdom incarnate – present in this area of evangelization that is the Christian education and formation of childhood?
(silent pause for personal prayer)
Final Prayer:
Lord, as Regnum Christi you have entrusted us with the mission of making you present, who are the Kingdom incarnate. Send us your Spirit to discover how you want us to help you respond to the needs that all people, the world, and the Church have for You here and now.
You are the center of our lives, and with renewed love we say to you:
R/ Christ our King!
V/ Thy Kingdom come!
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Day 3 • We discover Jesus, the Kingdom incarnate, patient in the face of difficulties, because He reigns in the timing of all things
Sunday, November 13, 2022
Parable of the wheat and the weeds: Christian formation of adolescence
R/ We want to see you and recognize you, Jesus
V/ You, who are the Kingdom incarnate
” The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds* all through the wheat, and then went off. When the crop grew and bore fruit, the weeds appeared as well. The slaves of the householder came to him and said, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest;* then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, “First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’ Matthew 13: 24-30
(pause in silence to let the Word of God penetrate)
“Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” Mary reproached Jesus when he was 12 (Luke 2:48). For adolescents, the values of childhood are no longer enough: they appear like arid land that demands more water, more depth, real answers to the deepest questions. They are seekers of the authentic, enchanted by what is fruitful. This makes it easier for them to discover the Kingdom by distinguishing the wheat in the midst of the weeds.
Within every human being there is also this adolescent who, on the one hand, desires authenticity, and on the other, does not always manage to be consistent with what he is called to be. Wheat and weeds, Kingdom and sin, nest in each of us. The Lord invites us to trust in the strength of his presence, which is the wheat, the Kingdom, in the midst of the weeds – which he realizes are there – and he insists patiently on reigning because he knows that his presence is already our victory, because no matter how many weeds there are, they will never be greater or more powerful than his love. He reigns in the different moments and circumstances of life. His presence is already the presence of the final victory.
Jesus, how do you me want to make you– the Kingdom incarnate – present in this area of evangelization that is the education and Christian formation of adolescents?
(silent pause for personal prayer)
Final Prayer:
Lord, as Regnum Christi you have entrusted us with the mission of making you present, who are the Kingdom incarnate. Send us your Spirit to discover how you want us to help you respond to the needs that all people, the world, and the Church have for You here and now.
You are the center of our lives, and with renewed love we say to you:
R/ Christ our King!
V/ Thy Kingdom come!
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Day 4 • We discover Jesus, the Kingdom incarnate, who we will always find present: there is no suffering, pain, or evil in which he cannot accompany and save you.
Monday, November 14, 2022
Parable of the net: the Christian formation of youth
R/ We want to see you and recognize you, Jesus
V/ You, who are the Kingdom incarnate
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full, they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” Matthew 13: 47-50
(pause in silence to let the Word of God penetrate)
Like arrows in the warrior’s hand, are the sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver filled with them (Psalm 127), or, as Gregorio Marañón said, “All our lives we will be what we have been capable of being since our youth.”
Youth is the stage in which the understanding of all reality deepens, including the understanding of a living and present God who makes the Kingdom real in the here and now of daily life, in every moment, as well as in the midst of paradoxes and contradictions. It is the time in which we begin to deeply yearn for a life tailored to the great promises that God sows in the soil of our hearts. In youth we begin to experience that reality of the Kingdom, of that good net that is the living Christ himself which gathers us in together with our circumstances, however bad, painful, and miserable they may be. And he rescues us and saves us, thus anticipating the promise of Heaven with his very presence.
Jesus, how do you me want to make you– the Kingdom incarnate – present in the area of evangelization that is the education and Christian formation of youth?
(silent pause for personal prayer)
Final Prayer:
Lord, as Regnum Christi you have entrusted us with the mission of making you present, who are the Kingdom incarnate. Send us your Spirit to discover how you want us to help you respond to the needs that all people, the world, and the Church have for You here and now.
You are the center of our lives, and with renewed love we say to you:
R/ Christ our King!
V/ Thy Kingdom come!
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Day 5 • We discover Jesus, the Kingdom incarnate, as we recognize him in the unique and unforgettable joy we experience when he meets us.
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
Parable of the hidden treasure: vocational ministry
R/ We want to see you and recognize you, Jesus
V/ You, who are the Kingdom incarnate
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44
(pause in silence to let the Word of God penetrate)
The hidden treasure is this God of Love incarnate, this Kingdom already present in us, but which sometimes we fail to recognize. “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?” (John 14:9). Yes, it is possible that like Philip we can spend a lot of time with Jesus, with the hidden treasure of his love, without knowing him, until he reveals himself to us (removes the veil from our eyes) and we discover, full of joy, the almighty love of the Lord already present in us.
It is then that we understand that life is a vocation, a call from Christ who loves us and is already present in us. Helping to discover this presence of Christ who lovingly calls each one of us becomes the work of the whole ecclesial community, so that each of its members recognizes their personal call and responds generously, as one who discovers a treasure and sells everything to buy the whole field.
Jesus, how do you me want to make you– the Kingdom incarnate – present in this area of evangelization that is vocational culture and ministry?
(silent pause for personal prayer)
Final Prayer:
Lord, as Regnum Christi you have entrusted us with the mission of making you present, who are the Kingdom incarnate. Send us your Spirit to discover how you want us to help you respond to the needs that all people, the world, and the Church have for You here and now.
You are the center of our lives, and with renewed love we say to you:
R/ Christ our King!
V/ Thy Kingdom come!
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Day 6 • We discover Jesus, the Kingdom incarnate, in the offering of authentic love
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Parable of the pearl: the promotion of marriage and family
R/ We want to see you and recognize you, Jesus
V/ You, who are the Kingdom incarnate
“the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” Matthew 13:45-46
(pause in silence to let the Word of God penetrate)
“You made us, Lord, for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you,” St. Augustine says. The human heart is like that merchant of the parable who, longing for the Kingdom, seeks true love everywhere, and when he finds it, he does what is necessary to get it.
So too, man and woman leave everything to follow the Lord’s call to marriage, like the one who finds the precious pearl and sells everything to buy it, because they discover that this is how they are being invited by the Lord to make him present and manifest the fruitfulness of his love. The sacrament of marriage makes present the living Christ as the priest in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and as an offering of love where Christ, the Kingdom incarnate, manifests himself here and now.
Jesus, how do you me want to make you– the Kingdom incarnate – present in this area of evangelization that is the promotion of marriage and the family?
(silent pause for personal prayer)
Final Prayer:
Lord, as Regnum Christi you have entrusted us with the mission of making you present, who are the Kingdom incarnate. Send us your Spirit to discover how you want us to help you respond to the needs that all people, the world, and the Church have for You here and now.
You are the center of our lives, and with renewed love we say to you:
R/ Christ our King!
V/ Thy Kingdom come!
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Day 7 • We discover Jesus, the Kingdom incarnate, as he transforms the community from within, converting us in his presence, in his body, as food.
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Parable of the leaven: The evangelization of professional environments and culture
R/ We want to see you and recognize you, Jesus
V/ You, who are the Kingdom incarnate
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.” All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables, to fulfill what had been said through the prophet: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has lain hidden from the foundation [of the world].” Matthew 13: 33-35
(pause in silence to let the Word of God penetrate)
We have in this parable something similar to the mustard seed, in the sense that the yeast is very small, and is only a fraction of the whole mass, but it gives life and shape to the whole dough. How is it possible that something seemingly small and insignificant substantially changes the whole mass? The difference between leavened bread and unleavened bread is great. They neither look nor taste the same. This is the difference between the person who allows himself to be touched and transformed by the Kingdom, the one who is conformed and configured to Christ, and the one who refuses to let himself be leavened by Him.
The Lord calls us to make him present in culture and in the professional world, so that they may become dough leavened by him. He calls us to be apostles and witnesses of his redemptive power, to be leaven that acts making Christ and his love present. In this way we participate in making the Kingdom present, going out to meet each person wherever they are. And the more configured to Christ we are, the more the Lord himself radiates wherever we are.
Jesus, how do you me want to make you– the Kingdom incarnate – present in this apostolic environment that is the evangelization of professional environments and culture?
(silent pause for personal prayer)
Final Prayer:
Lord, as Regnum Christi you have entrusted us with the mission of making you present, who are the Kingdom incarnate. Send us your Spirit to discover how you want us to help you respond to the needs that all people, the world, and the Church have for You here and now.
You are the center of our lives, and with renewed love we say to you:
R/ Christ our King!
V/ Thy Kingdom come!
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Day 8 • We discover Jesus, the Kingdom incarnate, in the peripheries of existence where all seems lost, knowing that he comes to meet us there.
Friday, November 18, 2022
Parable of the lost sheep: the promotion of social justice and the practice of the works of mercy
R/ We want to see you and recognize you, Jesus
V/ You, who are the Kingdom incarnate
‘“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.” Luke 15: 4-7
(pause in silence to let the Word of God penetrate)
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord. And in this first parable of mercy in the Gospel of St. Luke, the Lord himself, the Kingdom incarnate, goes out to look for those who have been lost or have distanced themselves from his love and have separated themselves from the community of those who follow him, because he knows they are small and in need of a shepherd. Jesus makes present the Kingdom; he is the Kingdom. He announces it with words and makes it visible with his works. He searches for his lost sheep. He constantly goes out to meet us in our misery and takes every opportunity to cure, heal, and help the sick and needy, showing us with his mercy that nothing can separate us from his love (cf. Romans 8, 39).
His miracles are the first fruits of the resurrection of eternal life, of a new society and a new world that begins in every person who experiences his love. And he asks us to do as he does: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, give shelter to the stranger, clothe the naked, help the poor and visit the sick and those in prison. He, who is mercy itself, sends us to make him present in the world, bringing his love to all people and in all circumstances, especially to those who suffer, to the needy, and where all seems lost.
Jesus, how do you me want to make you– the Kingdom incarnate – present in this area of evangelization that is the promotion of social justice and the practice of the works of mercy?
(silent pause for personal prayer)
Final Prayer:
Lord, as Regnum Christi you have entrusted us with the mission of making you present, who are the Kingdom incarnate. Send us your Spirit to discover how you want us to help you respond to the needs that all people, the world, and the Church have for You here and now.
You are the center of our lives, and with renewed love we say to you:
R/ Christ our King!
V/ Thy Kingdom come!
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Day 9 • We discover Jesus, the Kingdom incarnate, and we proclaim Him King of our life when we surrender to His Love
Saturday, November 19, 2022
Gospel of Christ the King
R/ We want to see you and recognize you, Jesus
V/ You, who are the Kingdom incarnate
“The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God.” Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.” Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:35-43
(pause in silence to let the Word of God penetrate)
In the good thief all the parables of the Kingdom come to life. In the final moment of his life, faced with his nothingness, he was good soil where the planted seed, Jesus himself, could germinate. He was able to see in that battered man, who was at his side suffering the same fate, the King of the universe, discovering in him that mustard seed – almost imperceptible – and the tree in which he could shelter. He could recognize himself as wheat, even in the midst of weeds; like a good fish gathered in a net. He found his treasure, his fine pearl, and – as good a thief as he was – he immediately recognized its value: “Jesus, remember me when you come with your Kingdom.” Without even realizing it, it became leavened dough making present the power of Christ’s love, which is greater than all our miseries.
The good thief is also that lost sheep whom Christ the King, the Good Shepherd, meets in the peripheries, where everything seems lost, to show us that his love forgives everything, conquers everything, and can do everything, and that the only thing that matters, the only thing we must always seek, is to see Him, in everything and in everyone, to make him present here and now.
Jesus, how do you me want to make you– the Kingdom incarnate – present that You may be the King of my life?
(silent pause for personal prayer)
Final Prayer:
Lord, as Regnum Christi you have entrusted us with the mission of making you present, who are the Kingdom incarnate. Send us your Spirit to discover how you want us to help you respond to the needs that all people, the world, and the Church have for You here and now.
You are the center of our lives, and with renewed love we say to you:
R/ Christ our King!
V/ Thy Kingdom come!
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