Viva Cristo Rey!

“Sing to the Lord a new song, ​for he has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for him, ​his holy arm.” Psalm 98:1

Today is the Feast Day of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, priest and martyr. His father was wealthy and he was sent abroad for his studies to become a priest because of the Mexican revolution from 1910 to 1920. When he returned to Mexico in 1925, the church was persecuted by government decree. Church buildings were closed, most priests had gone abroad, bishops were tortured for surreptitiously giving the sacraments at night. Miguel had to disguise himself to continue to minister to the people. He was sentenced to death and executed for what he was doing. He died shouting, “Viva Cristo Rey!” “Long live Christ the King!” 

But all was not lost for Mexico, for the people were accustomed to shouting “Viva Cristo Rey!” There is a video of the same name that tells of the miracle in Juarez, Mexico many years after the revolution. Fr. Rich Thomas and Sr. Maria Virginia held regular Bible studies and prayer meetings in a Catholic community in El Paso, Texas. In December 1972, the group received a prophetic word from Luke 14:13-14, “…when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

They decided to go just across the border to the garbage dump in Juarez, Mexico, and feed the poor on Christmas Day. They prepared for 125 people- 125 burritos, oranges, apples, 2 hams, and a few tamales. When they reached the dump, they were stupefied by what they saw. People living in cardboard shacks, no water, so many flies, and they were working on Christmas Day!

Dr. Antonio Villalva who was there on that day saw that they did not have enough food, there were more than 350 people lining up. But when they started giving the food, the food did not diminish. People would go home bringing food, and come back to get more. One man testified that he put the tailgate of his car down, to allow a woman to cut her ham there to distribute. He said the ham was more than enough. After everyone ate and were filled, Fr. Rich had enough left over to bring to three orphanages! The community of brothers and sisters witnessed the miracle of multiplication of food that day, and it was the start of ministering to the poor people in Juarez. They built a youth center and had so many services for the people in the dump. There was also conversion for the people in both Juarez and El Paso. See the video about it on https://youtu.be/aKZKXOCE43k .

Truly “Viva Christo Rey!”