‘Viva Christo Rey!'

Blessed Miguel Pro Martyred on November 23, 1927

From the moment they crowned Jesus with the twisted ring of thorns and placed a purple cloak over his shoulders the anti-christic, secular state has always tried to mock the spiritual reality of God’s kingship over all of the universe and all of time.

They went out of their way to invert the kingship of Jesus, making a sign that read King of the Jews as if it were a joke. It’s funny how God always ends up with the ultimate reversal of these mockeries through perfect irony and poetic justice. The more you insult and mock God, the more he emerges as the all-powerful sovereign.

Each year, on Good Friday at the Roman colosseum, the successor of Peter marches in holding the cross, the Romans’ preferred instrument of torture. The cross was a powerful symbol. Caesar and the Roman ruling class used it to frighten the people and make them subservient. For Catholics, the cross is now the sign of victory, the crown of thorns a sign of heavenly kingship.

The colosseum whose ancient sand-covered ground thirstily absorbed the blood of Christian martyrs now becomes a place of Catholic liturgy, peace and prayer. In the end, God wins. Secular governments will rise and fall but Christ the King remains on his throne and the king will return. 

The joke is always, in the end on them. What the anti-christic, state thought was a victory, over time, became a resounding  defeat. The body of the King became food for the Church, the blood of her martyrs became the seed of the Church. The more you fan the flames in an effort to extinguish God’s kingdom on earth the stronger it rages.

This is the foolishness of evil. Beginning with Lucifer rebelling against God. There's no way he could ever win. The earthly kingdom of egoism and pride is so illogical. The ephemeral pursuits of power, pleasure, prestige and possessions become ash and emptiness leaving us with an even bigger hole within. Only Christ and his kingdom can satisfy.

As a reminder of this truth, Pope Pius XI instituted this feast of Christ the King in 1925 in between the two World Wars and at a time when secular governments around the world began to repeat the pattern of state repression of the Christian message and the persecution of His Church. 

Pope Pius XI wrote, “From this it follows not only that Christ is to be adored by angels and men, but that to him as man angels and men are subject, and must recognize his empire; by reason of the hypostatic union Christ has power over all creatures” (Quas primas, 13).

This year the Feast of Christ the King will be celebrated on Sunday, only one day after we remember and celebrate the battle cry of a serene, joyful spiritual warrior, Blessed Miguel Pro. During the early 20th century persecution of the Church in Mexico, Father Miguel celebrated the Eucharist clandestinely and ministered the other sacraments to small groups of Catholics. 

He and his brother Roberto were eventually caught and arrested on false charges of attempting to assassinate Mexico’s president. Roberto was spared, but Miguel was sent to face a firing squad on November 23, 1927.

Less than two years after Christ the King was first celebrated, we had our first 'Christ the King martyr', Jesuit priest Miguel Pro spread out his arms, standing cruciform and with love in his heart, he courageously and defiantly declared to the anti-christic state, the Romans of his time, ‘Viva Christo Rey’ (‘Long live Christ the King’). 

The evil president Plutarco Elias Calles carefully had Fr. Miguel Pro's execution photographed and printed in newspapers throughout Mexico in an effort to demoralize the Catholics. Like the cross and crown of thorns, the photos, ironically, had the opposite effect.

Calles' photos of Pro were spread by the Christeros themselves to generate a greater will to fight and to confirm them in their mission. His funeral became a public demonstration of faith. His blood became the seed of tremendous courage for the Christeros who fought to defend the Church from the assaults of the anti-christic Mexican state. 

Miguel Pro was beatified in 1988. Today is the anniversary of his martyrdom and tomorrow is Christ the King. Viva Christo Rey!