The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Growing up in a Hispanic parish in Chicago, I fondly remember big solemnities, such as Christ the King, Our Lady of Guadalupe, or Easter. As the priest would begin processing out after the end of Mass, he, or someone else in the pews, would shout “Viva Cristo Rey!”, which means “Long live Christ the King!”. The entire parish would literally shake as everyone replied shouting “Que viva!” (May he live!) As a young altar server, I was energized to march down the middle of the Church to this triumphant Christian war cry.
I later learned that the persecuted Christians in Mexico would also shout “Viva Cristo Rey”, as a spontaneous shout of praise to the Lord Jesus and as a war cry when defending the Church against her persecutors.
It is good to call to mind that Christ is our King. As we learn in the first reading, our King is a Good Shepherd who seeks us out when broken and lost. He loves the poor little ones so much that in the Gospel, he goes so far as to identify himself with them: “whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
More importantly, today’s Gospel teaches us that Christ is present wherever love is needed and wherever love is given. As we pray in today’s preface, His kingdom is a kingdom of “justice, love, and peace”.
As loyal subjects of Christ the King, we have a duty to share His love to those little ones who lack love, whether they be in the streets, in our work environment, in our schools, or even in our homes. Especially when we carry out these works of charity keeping in mind and heart that these works are for love of Jesus, in a very real way, we extend the reign of God throughout the world. The whole goal of Christian mission, as St. Paul says, is so “that God may be all in all.” The world needs Christians to bring the saving truths of faith into all aspects of human life, so that the Lord may be in all in all, for “without the Creator, the creature vanishes.”
May we daily live more and more deeply in the love and peace of our Lord and King Jesus Christ.
¡Viva Cristo Rey!
Conrad Espino is a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Chicago, studying at Mundelein Seminary. Please pray for him.