"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall not pass away." Thus Our Lord speaks, as He reminds all of us that we are not alive for this world or this life. We are here to know love and serve God so that we can be happy with Him throughout all of eternity. This life will end, and so, as Catholics, our focus is the Life to come; a focus which prioritizes for us what is really important in this world.

People who do not love God, much less those who hate Him, cannot and do not understand this. They think that they can threaten and frighten Catholics into giving up their God-given Faith.

Back in 1927, President Calles of Mexico attempted to do just that. At that time, he was waging a fierce persecution against all the Catholics in Mexico. Upon his orders, Miguel Pro (a Jesuit Priest) and his two brothers, Humberto and Roberto were arrested. Without any trial, they were executed on November 23rd - for the simple fact that they were Catholic.

In order to intimidate and frighten the other Mexican Catholics still fighting for the Faith, President Calles invited the press to come and take pictures of the execution - so that everyone could see what would happen to those who did not yield to the Government's tyranny.

However, much to his surprise, the pictures of the Pros brothers' martyrdom had quite the opposite effect. The fighting Mexican Catholics (known as the Cristeros), became even more enthusiastic. And so, the images that were once intended for wide public distribution became a crime to possess - for the example of the heroic martyrs only served to inflame the Catholics' zeal.

And many of the Cristeros, as they continued their fight for the Faith, carried with them the execution pictures of the blessed martyr, Miguel Pro, as he stood before the firing squad, with the Cristeros' battle cry upon his lips: "Viva Cristo Rey!"

"Long live Christ the King!"