Homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King, Nov. 23, 2025. Gospel of Luke 23:35-43. Theme: Viva Cristo Rey! Long Live Christ the King!
Ninety-eight years ago today, on Nov. 23, 1927 at 10 o'clock in the morning, a 36-year old Jesuit priest was taken from his death-row cell and marched across the prison yard. He had been surveillanced for years and was considered to be one of the most wanted men in Mexico. His capital death-penalty crime was simply that he was a Catholic priest who refused to stop ministering to the Mexican people. 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 the wall of execution, the priest asked permission to pray. Kneeling before a wall that was stained with blood and riddled with bullet holes, he asked God for the grace to remain faithful to the end. Then, he stood up, extended his arms in the form of a cross and, facing the firing squad, exclaimed in a loud and steady voice: “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” “Long live Christ the King!” Shots rang out and the priest fell to the ground. To the surprise and humiliation of the government authorities - and despite the danger to themselves by forming an illegal assembly - 60,000 Catholics attended the heroic priest’s funeral in Mexico City. And throughout the ceremony the defiant but prayerful last words of the martyr were repeatedly shouted by the crowd: “¡Viva Cristo Rey!” “Long live Christ the King!”
That priest was Father Miguel Pro, whom we now honor as a martyr and a saint. Born and raised during the bloody religious persecution of Catholics in Mexico in the early 20th century, he actually lived for a short time not too far from here down in Los Gatos. He was hunted down and unjustly condemned to death precisely because he believed with all his heart what we are celebrating in today's liturgy: that Christ the King is Lord of all peoples and Lord of all things including politics and public social life, and that no earthly government has the authority to deny people their religious liberty or to eject God from public civic life.
He preached by his life and testified with his death that a person’s faith-relationship in Jesus Christ is not simply a private matter. It is not something to be reserved just for Sundays, or confined to the walls of a church, or kept politely within the parameters of one’s personal life. The light of Christ the King is meant to shine on everything, it’s meant to shine on everyone! It’s meant to transform people and thus also transform society. And it’s we Christians who are supposed to help to make this happen. We are called to be like “living candles” whose flame of faith enlightens those with whom we live, work and socialize. This means that our decisions and behavior must reflect our relationship with Jesus in all that we are and all that we do, both in private and in public, at home and at work, in all aspects of our lives no matter what that might be. This is how we do our part to enable the Kingship of Christ to have a real influence in our neighborhoods, in our schools, in our workplaces, in our laws and in society in general.
This social reign of Christ the King is truly the only sure solution to the rampant violence, drug deaths, confusion and division that plagues our nation and our world. Many people think that the answer to our social troubles lies in education and politics, but these things are not the final answer because they are utterly powerless to bring about real change by transforming the human person. You see, society is simply the reflection and sum total of those who live in it and so the only way to renew and change society and culture is to renew and change the people. And that begins with ourselves. This can only happen by the grace and power of God. Once he is freely welcomed and enthroned in the human heart, he can begin changing us from the inside out.
So we need to spread the Word and tell others the Good News. This is precisely what the Second Vatican Council called lay people to do in order to live as missionary disciples who strive to make the world a better place. We need to each become heralds of Christ the King, telling people that the happiness they desire with all their hearts, the happiness that they were created to enjoy, has a name and a face: it is Jesus of Nazareth.
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