'Viva Christo Rey!' The Happy Priest on the Spread of the Kingdom of Christ

If you struggle, you will conquer. If you conquer, you will be given the crown of victory.

A popular uprising of Catholic laymen called the Cristeros rose to the occasion to free the Church from oppression.  Blessed Miguel Pro died as a martyr, executed on the firing squad by federal soldiers on November 23, 1927.As he stood, waiting for the shots that would end his earthly life and begin a new life in the kingdom of Heaven, he forgave his executioners, and spreading out his arms in the form of a cross he cried out "Viva Cristo Rey!  Long live Christ the King!" This is the kind of zeal and conviction that the kingdom needs from all of us. 

P align=justify>CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - I have always been inspired by the example of Blessed Miguel Pro of Mexico who as a priest of the Society of Jesus, lived during a very trying time for the Mexican people.  The Catholic Church was terribly persecuted. 

A popular uprising of Catholic laymen called the Cristeros rose to the occasion to free the Church from oppression.  Blessed Miguel Pro died as a martyr, executed on the firing squad by federal soldiers on November 23, 1927.

As he stood, waiting for the shots that would end his earthly life and begin a new life in the kingdom of Heaven, he forgave his executioners, and spreading out his arms in the form of a cross he cried out "Viva Cristo Rey!  Long live Christ the King!"

This is the kind of zeal and conviction that the kingdom needs from all of us.    No true reforms will take place in the Church; no renewal will take place in our nation until Jesus Christ reigns in everyone's heart. "Viva Cristo Rey!  Long live Christ the King!"

The Kingdom of God is the central teaching of Jesus throughout the Gospels.  The word kingdom appears more than any other word throughout the four Gospels.  Jesus begins his public ministry by preaching the kingdom.  "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:14).

By summarizing all of the teachings of the New Testament on the kingdom we can clearly see that the kingdom is a three dimensional reality:  the life of grace within every individual who does the will of God; the Church here on earth; and eternal life in Heaven.

The kingdom first establishes itself in our hearts through the sacrament of Baptism, thus allowing us to participate in God's inner life.  We are elevated and transformed through sanctifying grace.  This supernatural life of grace comes to fulfillment in the eternal life of Heaven.

Referring to the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium, the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that the Church is the kingdom of Christ already present in mystery.  It is the mission of the Church to proclaim and establish the kingdom of Christ. This mission takes place between the first coming and the second coming of Christ.  The Church will become perfected in the glory of Heaven once the Second Coming takes place.  Meanwhile, the Church journeys here on earth through persecutions and consolations.  She is in exile from the Lord and waits with joyful hope for the full coming of the kingdom.

Jesus makes it very clear that there are two kingdoms. The two kingdoms are constantly in battle with each other.  Jesus is the king of one kingdom, and Satan is the ruler of the other, a counterfeit kingdom. The battle takes place in our hearts, and it displays itself with great drama in the world. To ensure that Jesus is always the king of our hearts requires great commitment, sacrifice, conviction, hard work and a lot of prayer.

We must never be surprised that the spiritual life is a battle.  A battle between the two kingdoms will always take place in our heart until the day the Lord calls us to the fullness of the kingdom of Heaven.  If you struggle, you will conquer.  If you conquer, you will be given the crown of victory.

History is filled with the details of many famous battles.  One of these confrontations took place at the Alamo.  On March 5, 1836, Colonel William Travis assembled his men in the plaza of the Alamo and told them that there was no hope that they would receive any help. 

He drew a line on the ground with a sword to be crossed by all who were committed to stay and fight.  Everyone crossed the line except for one man by the name of Moses Rose, who escaped over one of the walls surrounding the Alamo. 

Today, more than ever, the kingdom of Christ needs convinced Catholics who will fight heroically for their King.  The kingdom of Christ on earth has always been known as the Church militant, not a Church of cowards. 

The Cross is an essential component for membership in the kingdom of Christ.  Those who belong to the kingdom of Satan do not want a king who tells them that they have to suffer.  They want Jesus to come down from the cross.

Continual conflict and the carrying of the cross mean that each member of Christ's kingdom will have to be courageous. 

Courage, conviction, sacrifice, and commitment; these are the essential qualities of anyone who wants to be a member of Christ's kingdom. 

The years 1936 - 1939 marked the greatest persecution against the Catholic Church.  The place was Spain.  The persecution was brutal and thousands of Catholics were martyred. 

One of the martyrs was Blessed Victoria Diez Bustos de Molina.  Victoria became a public school teacher.  However, the historical times in which she lived became very difficult.  Before the civil war actually began, there was a very anti-catholic environment in Spain.  The government prohibited the teaching of the catechism in the classroom and demanded crucifixes be removed from the walls.  Victoria refused to comply. 

Eventually the civil war did spill over into the small town of Nornachuelos where she was teaching.  Father Molina, the parish priest, emptied the tabernacle and entrusted the Blessed Sacrament to Victoria.  Quickly Father was arrested; the church was ransacked and burned.

Around this same time, Victoria was teaching catechism to a group of women at around eight o'clock in the evening.  During the class, two armed men entered the classroom and demanded that Victoria leave with them.
 
Victoria, together with Fr. Molina and eighteen others who were already in prison were awakened in the middle of the night.  They were forced to walk for three hours to a new destination: an abandoned mine shaft.  Each one was forced to stand upon a huge stone above a large pit where they were shot and killed. 

Victoria watched as the men were shot and fell into the pit.  Fr. Molina was the last man to be killed and then it was Victoria's turn.  The soldiers tried to convince her to save her life if she would only renounce her Catholic Faith and cry out "Long live the republic" and "Long live communism."  Victoria refused.  Instead she knelt on the stone, and with her eyes raised to heaven and her arms opened in the form of a cross she shouted, "Long live Christ the King!  Long live the Virgin Mother!"  Victoria was only thirty-three years old.

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Father James Farfaglia, the Happy Priest, is the pastor of Saint Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Father has a hard hitting blog called Illegitimi non carborundum.  He has also published a book called Man to Man: A Real Priest Speaks to Real Men about Marriage, Sexuality and Family Life.  You can contact Father at fjficthus@gmail.com.  You can click here for the audio podcast of this Sunday homily.

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