Happy solemnity of Christ the King! <3
My "Music Monday"post tomorrow will be about today's feast, and it will feature a Spanish song that I love. But I also wanted to share some thoughts in English about today's feast! ;-)The song I will be posting tomorrow is "¡Viva Cristo Rey!" by a group called Jésed. It's a powerful song, and I encourage you to listen to it when I post it tomorrow. In the meantime, I'd like to share my translation of the lyrics:
1. A battle cry is
heard
In the face of the earth and in every place
The ready warriors
Take hold of their swords and enlist themselves to do
battle.
For this they have been trained;
They will defend the truth,
And they will not be defeated;
The fire is in their blood.
(Refrain:) Long live Christ the King! Long live Christ the King!
The battle cry that sets the earth on fire
Long live Christ the King!
Our Sovereign Lord
Our Captain and Champion
To do battle for Him is all an honor.
2. We know that
this battle is not easy
And many will shrink back
And under the darts of our enemy
Many will, without doubt, perish.
I will raise my sword high
As did my Lord
Nothing has defeated Him.
His strength is that of God. (Refrain)
3. We know no greater joy,
There exists no more honorable fame
Than to be with my brothers on the battle line
And together surrender our lives
To Him who merits the glory
And recruited us out of love.
Before Him the knee bends
And the heart falls prostrate. (Refrain)
I learned this song during the period of time in which I lived in Mexico, and it was there also that I learned about the the Cristeros and the Cristero War, a war for religious freedom fought in Mexico in the early 1900's. "¡Viva Cristo Rey!" (Spanish for "Long live Christ the King!") was their battle cry. These martyrs, and especially this song, very quickly won a place in my heart.
For me, today's feast is a call to love and to spiritual battle.
Every day we have many opportunities to show that it is Christ who is King of our Hearts.
In every decision we make, we should choose to obey our King and do what will bring glory to Him. The words we say, the clothes we wear, the music we listen to: do they show that Christ is our King?
Everything we do -- even the littlest, most insignificant things -- can be a beautiful gift to Him, if we do it out of love. Yes, this often involves sacrifice. We are called to humility, self-sacrifice, inner conversion: these things cost us a lot. We serve a King whose crown is made of thorns, who said “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23) When these types of situations come up, they're a chance to once more choose Christ as our King.
Most of us probably won't have the chance to physically die a martyr's death the way the Cristeros did. But did you know that we're all called to a kind of martyrdom in our daily lives? St. Dominic Savio is well known for his motto "Death before sin!" and this aspiration sums up well the kind of "white martyrdom" that I'm referring to. Every time we choose to say "no" to sin and "yes" to grace, "no" to our ideas of how life should go and "yes" to God's plan for us, "no" to selfishness and "yes" to service, "no" to excessive noise and distraction and "yes" to silence and prayer, "no" to self-indulgence and "yes" to penance, "no" to temptation and "yes" to virtue...these are opportunities to die to self, to be a "white martyr" for love of Jesus, our King.
Truly, there is no greater honor than to lay down our lives for Him who laid down His life for us. Today's feast is a reminder that we serve a King whose love and power are far greater than sin and death, and He's worth everything we have to give. He's worth fighting for. He's already won the battle -- but there are still souls out there who don't know Him, souls who have rejected Him, souls that work against Him -- and we must unite our prayers and sufferings to Christ's perfect sacrifice on the cross in order win these souls for Him. St. Thérèse said, "My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice, these are my invincible arms; they can move hearts far better than words."
I'd like to conclude with a prayer I wrote in my journal a few years ago:
Every day we have many opportunities to show that it is Christ who is King of our Hearts.
In every decision we make, we should choose to obey our King and do what will bring glory to Him. The words we say, the clothes we wear, the music we listen to: do they show that Christ is our King?
Everything we do -- even the littlest, most insignificant things -- can be a beautiful gift to Him, if we do it out of love. Yes, this often involves sacrifice. We are called to humility, self-sacrifice, inner conversion: these things cost us a lot. We serve a King whose crown is made of thorns, who said “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23) When these types of situations come up, they're a chance to once more choose Christ as our King.
Most of us probably won't have the chance to physically die a martyr's death the way the Cristeros did. But did you know that we're all called to a kind of martyrdom in our daily lives? St. Dominic Savio is well known for his motto "Death before sin!" and this aspiration sums up well the kind of "white martyrdom" that I'm referring to. Every time we choose to say "no" to sin and "yes" to grace, "no" to our ideas of how life should go and "yes" to God's plan for us, "no" to selfishness and "yes" to service, "no" to excessive noise and distraction and "yes" to silence and prayer, "no" to self-indulgence and "yes" to penance, "no" to temptation and "yes" to virtue...these are opportunities to die to self, to be a "white martyr" for love of Jesus, our King.
Truly, there is no greater honor than to lay down our lives for Him who laid down His life for us. Today's feast is a reminder that we serve a King whose love and power are far greater than sin and death, and He's worth everything we have to give. He's worth fighting for. He's already won the battle -- but there are still souls out there who don't know Him, souls who have rejected Him, souls that work against Him -- and we must unite our prayers and sufferings to Christ's perfect sacrifice on the cross in order win these souls for Him. St. Thérèse said, "My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice, these are my invincible arms; they can move hearts far better than words."
I'd like to conclude with a prayer I wrote in my journal a few years ago:
Jesus, from this day, this moment, forward, I choose You and You alone as my King. I desire that You reign in every aspect of my life -- in my thoughts, my words, my sentiments, my actions -- all will be for You. My dear King, grant me true humility, for You show that true humility is found in humble service and self-sacrifice. I want to fight for You and extend Your reign. What does it matter that my sword is a broom, a mop, a rosary? As long as I am doing Your will in love, that is all that is important. Everyday I must do battle for Your Name, striving to conquer my self-will and die to myself. It is a hard fight, but I know that with You on my side, I shall be victorious as long as I persevere. My King, through the intercession of the Mexican martyrs, grant me the grace to be a martyr for You. In all things let the one cry of my heart be: ¡Viva Cristo Rey!
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