FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
It’s 1927. Life in Mexico is changing for the worse; it’s revolutionary-like. The Mexican authorities have adopted a vehemently anti-Catholic approach. Their main goal – destroy the Catholic Church in the hearts of the people. During this time, over 90% of them would have identified their Catholic faith as integral to their identity. It was the center of their lives. The Church baptized their children, they were educated in our schools, they married within the walls of the Church, they went to Catholic hospitals when they were sick and they called the priests when they were dying. To be Mexican was to be Catholic; the two were intertwined for nearly five centuries.
The government of the then president Plutarco Elias Calles, sought to change this by any means necessary. The question for him had become, “How do I kill the faith of the Mexican people?” Under his leadership, the fiercest persecution against the Catholic Church would begin. All foreign missionary priests were expelled from the country. Our schools were closed. They nailed shut the wooden doors of our churches, making Sunday Mass an illegal activity. Priests and nuns were no longer allowed to wear their habits and cassocks in public; if they did, they were arrested.
Our Catholic brothers and sisters did not cower in fear. In fact, they fought back. One of these men was a faithful priest by the name of Fr. Miguel Pro. He defied the government mandates and secretly ministered to the people. He baptized, he married couples, he taught them catechesis; he did all the things that a good, faithful priest would do. The police looked for him for months until one day they finally found this “irritating” priest.
The photo on the bulletin cover is of Fr. Miguel Pro in one of his disguises, was taken in 1927, shortly before he died by firing squad. His captors asked him if he had any last words. He raised both hands in the form of a cross and yelled, "LONG LIVE CHRIST THE KING!" The government published this photo on the front pages of all the major newspapers the next day in an attempt to scare Catholics. It had the opposite effect.
This Sunday we celebrate the great Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe. It was started in 1925, by Pope Pius XII. He wanted to remind the world the true center of existence. At that time in history, the countries were suffering from the horrors of World War I. Nation states were rising in an attempt to exert their power over one another through military might. This Sunday we are reminded that only Christ matters. All the other false claims to our hearts will always fail. Jesus Christ is the answer. VIVA CRISTO REY!
A Slave of Jesus Christ,
Fr. Brian J. Solive
