viva cristo rey - still an act of defiance - Christ the King B 2018

The feast of Christ the King is not an ancient feast.  It is relatively new, just established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.  It was instituted against the backdrop of the rise to power of the European Fascist Dictators. But the specific impetus for Pope Pius XI to make it a solemn feast was the martyrdom of a priest named Fr. Miguel Pro during the revolution in Mexico.  Fr. Pro was sentenced to die.  His only crime was he was a priest.  And as he was being led out of prison to be shot, he made one last defiant gesture – he stretched out his hands in the form of a cross and shouted “Viva Cristo Rey.” Hail Christ the King.

This feast, the feast of Christ the King is still an act of defiance.  Political ideologies are not absolute.  Dictators and tyrants do not last.  Political systems, kingdoms and governments – they fall.  Democrats come, democrats go.  Republicans come, republicans go.  In reality no earthly power holds on to power forever.  They do not last.  Only God is eternal.  Only God is absolute.  Only the values of God’s kingdom lasts.  Viva Cristo Rey.

When I was 6 or seven years old with the blessings of our parish priest my mother dressed me like the Sto. Nino, the Holy Child dressed as a king. I was dressed in white, with a red cape draped on my back, a golden crown on my head, a scepter on my left and an orb on my right.  It was the nearest thing I got to becoming a royalty.  And then we were made to walk through the streets in my home town in a long procession with a marching band at the back and a dozen little angels in front. And as far as I can remember I believe it was the last time people ever called me cute as I passed by.

But is this the image of Christ the King?  Our gospel speaks differently.  My kingdom is not from this world, Jesus said to Pilate.  So you are a king, Pilate replied.  And indeed Pilate’s men turned him into a king – he was made to wear a crown of thorns, they gave him a seamless cloak, they bowed to him to deride him and make fun of him, and on the cross which was to be his throne they placed a sign, Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews. 

And yet amidst all these mockery and taunts one of the two thieves crucified with Jesus reverently asked him, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Only the thief recognized, only the thief understood that Christ is indeed a king, that Christ has indeed a kingdom where he reigns.  What did this repentant thief see which Pilate did not?  This is what he saw:  When there was greed in his own heart the thief saw in Jesus generosity, a generosity that led him to give even his life for the sake of the other.  When there was only a rush to save one’s skin in self-centeredness and in anger as was the disposition of the other thief, he saw in Jesus that willingness to sacrifice for others, even to suffer and die.  He saw in Jesus not judgment and bias, not profiling be it criminal or racial, but an effort to understand the person, to be compassionate even in his own mistakes.  He saw in Jesus not the power to coerce and manipulate, not wealth and possessions to buy happiness and security, but humility and trust that drew even him, a thief, to the one who is nailed on the cross.  This is the kingdom of Jesus.  This is what Pilate could not understand.  And this is what some of us has yet to see.  With Fr. Miguel Pro’s outstretched arms in the form of a cross we say Viva Cristo Rey.