✠ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
We celebrate today the feast of Christ the King,
acclaiming Jesus as the Anointed One,
who died for us and rose triumphant.
We offer praise and worship to our King,
and ask for the grace to live as worthy citizens of His kingdom
living lives centred on justice, truth, love and peace.
When we have failed to live as good citizens of God’s Kingdom,
let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
I confess to almighty God
that I have greatly sinned,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
The Collect: Let us pray.
Almighty ever-living God, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of the universe, grant, we pray, that the whole creation, set free from slavery, may render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.. Amen.
The Liturgy of the Word
First Reading Daniel 7:13-14
I gazed into the visions of the night.
And I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven,
one like a son of man.
He came to the one of great age
and was led into his presence.
On him was conferred sovereignty,
glory and kingship,
and men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants.
His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty
which shall never pass away,
nor will his empire ever be destroyed.
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm 92(93):1-2,5
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed;
the Lord has robed himself with might,
he has girded himself with power.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
The world you made firm, not to be moved;
your throne has stood firm from of old.
From all eternity, O Lord, you are.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
Truly your decrees are to be trusted.
Holiness is fitting to your house,
O Lord, until the end of time.
The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.
Alleluia!
Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessings on the coming kingdom of our father David!
Alleluia!
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John. (18:33-37)
Glory to you, O Lord.
‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Pilate asked.
Jesus replied, ‘Do you ask this of your own accord,
or have others spoken to you about me?’
Pilate answered, ‘Am I a Jew?
It is your own people and the chief priests
who have handed you over to me:
what have you done?’
Jesus replied, ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world;
if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought
to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews.
But my kingdom is not of this kind.’
‘So you are a king then?’ said Pilate.
‘It is you who say it’ answered Jesus.
‘Yes, I am a king. I was born for this, I came into the world for this:
to bear witness to the truth;
and all who are on the side of truth
listen to my voice.’
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
HOMILY "Look at the King! Look at the King!
Look at the King, the King, the King!
The King is in the altogether, but altogether, the altogether,
He's altogether as naked as the day that he was born!
The King is in the altogether, but altogether, the altogether,
It's altogether the very least the King has ever worn"
I’m old enough to remember Danny Kaye singing this
in the film “Hans Christian Andersen", and an often-requested
song on “Children’s Favourites” with Uncle Mac.
Our King Jesus was stripped of his dignity
after this encounter with Pontius Pilate;
he was cruelly and torturously whipped,
ridiculed in purple robe, and his coronation a crown of thorns.
This is the King who is seen every day in the naked,
the beggar, the homeless, the mentally-ill,
those wrongly-imprisoned, the hungry, the displaced,
the persecuted.
This is not an easy King to serve;
He is a King that makes demands on us
to serve outside of our comfort zone.
In the trial of The King, Pilate begins with his own question:
“Are you the King of the Jews?” (John 18:33)
Jesus turns the question back on Pilate.
“Are you saying this on your own behalf
or have others been telling you about me?” (John 18:34).
Faced with this most-unregal of Kings,
Pilate weighs the consequences that choosing Jesus or not
will have on his career, his family, his loyalty to country and Caesar,
and his access to power.
Jesus was the strangest King that Pilate had ever come across.
A caring King, a conquering King who never forces,
a King who is hungry and thirsty,
a King who reigns from the cross,
a King who dies so that we don’t have to,
a King who washes our feet,
a King who comes to serve rather than to be served.
He is a King, all right, one who rules with love, not force.
He’s the strangest King you’ve ever met,
and you meet Him every day:
in the Eucharist, in the poor, in His Word, in your heart,
in the events of your day, and in your very self.
Today, the Lord asks us all if we will let Him be our King.
Is He really our King?
Do we feel and act as if we are His subjects?
The Prayer of the Faithful (Times and Seasons)
Let us with confidence present our prayers and supplications
to the throne of grace.
We pray for all those in positions of power,
that they may govern with wisdom and integrity,
serving the needs of their people.
May your reign come;
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for the Church, the sign of your reign,
that it may extend your welcome to people of every
race and background.
May your kingdom come;
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for Christians of every denomination,
that together we may come to understand
the royal priesthood you bestowed on us in baptism.
May your dominion come;
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for those whose commitment to truth
brings them into conflict with earthly powers,
that they may have the courage to endure.
May your rule come;
Lord, hear our prayer.
We pray for our community of faith,
that attentive to your word
we may always worship in spirit and in truth.
May your reign come;
Lord, hear our prayer.
God the Father, as we hear the call of Christ the King
help us to follow in his service, whose kingdom has no end;
for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, one glory.
Merciful Father,
accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
At the Saviour’s command
and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil,
graciously grant peace in our days,
that, by the help of your mercy,
we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress,
as we await the blessed hope
and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
Lord Jesus Christ, eternal Son of God;
I believe that You are truly present in the most Blessed Sacrament
of the altar. I worship Your unseen sacramental presence
with all the powers of my soul.
I love You above all things, and I earnestly desire
to receive Your life-giving, healing grace.
Since I am not now about to receive You sacramentally
in Holy Communion, I ask You to come spiritually into my soul,
and to bestow on me all the graces
which flow from Your Sacred Heart.
I unite myself to You, as fully as I am able,
and I ask that with the help of Your grace
I may remain united to You, my greatest good, my final end.
I ask You to sustain me in this life with Your presence,
and then, when this life is over,
to receive me into the joys of Your Kingdom,
where with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
You live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.
Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.
A Time of quiet reflection, in which to receive the Lord’s Presence spiritually.
Eternal light shine in our hearts.
Eternal goodness deliver us from evil.
Eternal power be our support.
Eternal wisdom scatter the darkness of our ignorance.
Eternal pity have mercy on us
that with all our heart and mind and soul and strength
we may seek Your face
and be brought by Your infinite mercy
into Your holy presence.
God the Father,
who has given to his Son the name above every name,
strengthen us to proclaim Christ Jesus as Lord.
Amen.
God the Son,
who is our great high priest passed into the heavens,
plead for us at the right hand of the Father.
Amen.
God the Holy Spirit,
who pours out his abundant gifts upon the Church,
make us faithful servants of Christ our King.
Amen.
And may almighty God bless us,
the Father, the Son, ✠ and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
THE ANGELUS
The angel of the Lord brought tidings unto Mary. And she conceived by the Holy Ghost.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary. Holy Mary.
And the Word was made flesh. And dwelt amongst us.
Hail Mary. Holy Mary.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts,
that as we have known the Incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ
by the message of an angel, so by his Cross and Passion
we may be brought unto the glory of his Resurrection;
through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Go forth in peace.
Thanks be to God.
