At 10AM on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 1927, a 36-year old Jesuit priest, who had become one of the most wanted men in Mexico, was taken from his jail cell and marched across the prison yard. As he walked he held a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other. One of the guards approached him and with tears in his eyes begged forgiveness for what was about to happen. Upon arrival at a stone wall that was riddled with bullet holes, the priest asked permission to pray before being executed. Then extending his arms in the form of a cross and, facing the firing squad, he cried out in a loud voice, “¡Viva Cristo Rey!”, that is, “Long live Christ the King!” Shots rang out and the priest fell dead to the ground.
That priest was Father Miguel Pro, who lived amidst the intense and bloody religious persecution of Catholics in Mexico in the 1920’s, when simply wearing a cross in public or being caught attending Mass could lead to imprisonment or worse. He escaped to California for a very short time and lived in Los Gatos. So, our Archdiocese actually has a bit of a connection with him. But how had he become one of the most-wanted men in Mexico? What horrendous crime deserving of the death penalty did he commit? His capital offense was due to the fact that he was a priest faithful in carrying out the mission of Jesus Christ. And what was that mission? Well, we heard the Lord himself define it in today’s Gospel: to testify to the truth.
Fr. Pro’s martyrdom came about because he courageously stood up for the truth. With a joyful sense of humor and through clever tactics, he secretly carried out his ministry by using a series of ever-changing disguises such as pretending to be a businessman or a taxi driver, or a beggar, and even once by impersonating a policeman and walking right into their precincts in order to bring Holy Communion to imprisoned Catholics. He did whatever he could, in whatever way he could, to extend the Kingship of Christ over all things and to uphold the people’s right to religious freedom. And he kept doing this despite peril to himself in the face of a government that was hostile to faith and that sought to banish God from any and all aspects of public life.
I think that God has something to say to us through Fr. Pro on this Solemnity of Christ the King because he had such a very close connection with it. It was a brand new liturgical celebration when he was ordained a priest in 1925 and its theme of the primacy of Jesus as Lord was the impetus for his dangerous covert ministry. And it's no coincidence that Blessed Miquel was martyred within days of Christ the King Sunday and that his dying words, proclaimed with conviction, echoed that of the Christian martyrs throughout history, professing Christ as King above all earthly powers. The president of Mexico had Fr. Pro’s execution photographed and publicized, thinking that this would instill fear in the people and suppress the Catholic Faith. But instead, it had the opposite effect and his dying words became a rallying cry, inspiring thousands to continue proclaiming their Faith and honoring him as a martyr.
His example reminds us that God’s Word, His Truth, has been entrusted to us for a reason, and it isn’t to just keep it to ourselves. It’s for all the world to know and we have a responsibility to testify to this truth and bring it to others by our words and example. This task can be quite challenging in a culture such as ours in which truth is seen as something subjective, something that is adaptable and changeable. We can hear echoes of this train of thought in those who say such things as “let me speak my truth” or “that might be true for you but not for me.” However, such phrases are nothing new. They are simply a modern rehashing of the infamous and scornful words we heard Pilate say to Jesus in today’s gospel, “What is truth?”
In response to such an outlook, we Christians affirm that objective truth does indeed exist and that it is not reached by majority opinion nor based upon one's personal viewpoint. It describes reality as it truly is and not how we might feel about it nor how we might want it to be. And furthermore, we proclaim that Truth itself became personified in Jesus of Nazareth, Who has entrusted to us the task of shining its light upon all aspects of human life, private and public, personal and social.
And this is where the Kingdom of Christ comes up against the kingdom of darkness, which kicks and screams against the light. Those in power try to extinguish this light of faith because it exposes the lies and corruption upon which their political prestige and positions are built. This was true in Fr. Pro’s Mexico and it’s still true for those in power today, even in our own nation. And this is why there are voices in our government and media who try to denigrate and minimize religious freedom. They seek to redefine and restrict it to mean that we can believe or say whatever we want in private, but once we enter the public arena we may not speak of our Catholic faith nor seek to enact laws based upon Gospel principles. And to impose this view upon society they often resort to ridicule and intimidation as their tools of choice for their modern-day version of religious persecution.
And sadly, under the weight of such social bullying and harassment some Christians cave in to peer pressure and compartmentalize their faith. This means that they confine their Christianity to the safety of church grounds or only speak the truth freely when they are with like-minded people. But this is a spiritually dangerous road to travel for a Christian because it’s an inconsistent and dishonest thing to be loyal to Jesus as Lord in our private lives, but then shrink from acknowledging His Kingship over us in our public and social lives.
The only way to remain spiritually strong and not give in to the temptation to become a “closet Catholic”, so to speak, is to work on developing our personal relationship with Jesus. Through a habit of daily prayer from the heart, along with thoughtfully reading the Gospels and receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist with mindfulness and devotion, we will get to know Him better and fall more in love with Him. And the more we fall in love with Christ, the more we will remain loyal and true to Him, standing up and speaking out for the One Whom we love when anyone disrespects Him. This is precisely what enabled Blessed Miquel Pro to remain faithful despite persecution and to boldly shout out with his very last breath: “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” “Long live Christ the King!”
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