Prayer Ministries
St. John Damascene teaches that “prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God.” At Christ the King we understand the extreme importance of fostering a deep and personal relationship with God through individual and communal prayer. In order to become true disciples of Christ we must first know Christ. We also acknowledge the centrality of prayer in everything we do as a community. Our intellectual learning, service, and fellowship must be rooted in a life of prayer. We offer many opportunities for prayer outside our daily Masses and encourage all our parishioners to find time each day to lift their hearts to God.
“We find prayer no less a struggle than did the first disciples, who wearied of their watch. Even our ministry can offer itself as a convincing excuse to be neglectful, since our exertions for the kingdom tempt us to imagine that our work may supply for our prayer. But without prayer we drift, and our work is no longer for him. To serve him honestly we must pray always and not give up. he will bless us in his time and lighten our burdens and befriend our loneliness.” —Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross (3.25)
Eucharistic Adoration is an opportunity for all parishioners to spend time in the presence of our Lord, dwelling in God’s love, and praying for the needs of family, friends, our parish community, and the entire People of God.
Adoration is available every Friday at Christ the King. Exposition begins at 9:00 AM following the morning Mass and ends with Benediction at 12 noon. Regular adorers commit to praying in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament for one hour per week, and at least two parishioners will take the same hour to ensure that the Blessed Sacrament is never left unattended.
In addition, Christ the King organizes a Forty-Hour Devotion each year leading up to our parish feast day in mid- to late November. Exposition begins at 6:00 PM following a Thursday evening Mass and ends with Benediction at 7:45 AM prior to the regular Saturday morning Mass. Again, at least two parishioners are needed for each hour time slot to cover the entirety of the Forty-Hour Devotion.
Regular prayer warriors join a long-standing, extensive prayer chain network within our parish through phone calls or email. If you would like add a name to our prayer list, please contact the parish office. If you would like to join our prayer line ministry, please contact Martha Suter for more information.
Parishioners organize our annual Living Rosary (October), Outdoor Stations of the Cross (March), and Crowning of Mary (May).
Since 2009, Christ the King has fostered a sister parish relationship with Corpus Christi Parish in Jalchatra, Bangladesh. Like our parish here, Corpus Christi is staffed by priests and religious from the Congregation of Holy Cross. Parishioners on this prayer committee come together to assist the pastoral team in devising ways to promote our relationship with our sister parish in both our parish and school.
Parishioners receive a blessing at the end of Mass and then take a special chalice home for one week to pray for an increase in vocations within the Church. We ask that all parishioners pray that all God’s people may hear his gentle whisper and the urging of his Holy Spirit as we discern how God has created us to know, love, and serve him, whether that be in religious life, the priesthood, marriage, or the single vocation. Please contact the parish office if you would like to add your name to this ministry.
