November 23, 2025, 12:00 PM
Feast days come from all sorts of places.
Some recall events from the Bible. Many of those days are anchored in some calendar or another. We celebrate Holy Week and Easter as very moveable feasts because they’re rooted in the Jewish observance of Passover. Christmas, while recounted in the gospels, falls in midwinter because of the attractive symbolism of celebrating the birth of the world’s Light in the darkest part of our year.
Saints days usually—but not always—come on the person’s death day, their birth into eternal life. Some feasts really are connected to buildings. In September we recall the Nativity of Our Lady, but not because we know the exact date when St Ann gave birth, but because the Church of St Ann in Jerusalem was dedicated on that day.
Today’s feast day has an unusual and very modern origin. Christ the King, of course, has no historical correspondence in the gospels. Yes, Jesus was born as the promised Prince of Peace. He dies on the cross with the words “King of the Jews” over his thorn-crowned head. We imagine his return to the Father as a triumphantly royal moment in heaven. But, this feast doesn’t claim any of those as its origin.
Rather, it comes from the early 20th Century struggles of Catholics in Mexico. St Miguel Pro, an “underground” priest in a Marxist regime that outlawed Catholicism, died crying out “Viva Cristo Rey!” Those words, proclaiming Christ as King—words accompanied by the martyr’s death—led Pope Pius XI to create this feast. We’re reminded in our modern and often brutal world, that only Jesus reigns as King, only Jesus brings us the peace and justice of God’s eternal and blessed reign.
Fr. McCreary
