This Sunday marks the great Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe. It signals the end of one liturgical season (Ordinary Time) and ushers in Advent, the holy season of preparation and waiting for the coming of the Baby Jesus on Christmas morning. 

“Long live Christ the king!” Viva Cristo Rey! This famous slogan would become the rallying cry of our Catholic brothers and sisters in Mexico during an intense period of persecution.  It was 1926, under the then president Plutarco Elias Calles. His government tried to systemically kill the Catholic faith in the hearts of the Mexican people, knowing that if successful, nothing could stop their radical political agenda from taking root. Like many totalitarian regimes of the last century, once they grip the levers of power, they quickly set out to destroy Christianity. You need only look at China and Russia to see the trail of Christian corpses those governments left behind in the their wake. Mexico, was no different; they barricaded our church doors, closed our schools, and outlawed any public religious expression.  Thousands of priests, nuns and Catholic faithful who refused to bow down to the might of the state were brutally slaughtered. Mexico quickly resembled the age of persecution our ancestors endured at the hands of the ancient Roman emperors, nearly two-thousand years before.

In one pivotal moment, the government forces finally arrested a troublesome, illusive priest by the name of Father Miguel Pro.  He spent his ministry in the shadows, sneaking from home to home, clandestinely hearing confession and celebrating Catholic weddings.  But on November 23rd, 1927 he was sentenced to death by firing squad.  In the courtyard he stood upright before the row of executioners, with a crucifix in one hand, and a dangling rosary in the other.  He refused the blindfold offered to him.  Instead, he knelt briefly said a silent prayer and told the men that he forgave them for what they were about to do.  Standing again, he looked squarely into their eyes as they steadied the barrels of their rifles toward him.  He stretched out his arms in the form of a cross and yelled, “Viva Cristo Rey!” The shots rang out.  He was dead.  President Calles published the photo of Father Miguel’s execution on the front pages of the newspapers the next day in all of Mexico, hoping it would frighten the rest of us.  It did not.  In fact, it galvanized all the more to fight for our true king--Jesus Christ.