A calendar in my office each month acknowledges one of the saints or blesseds whose feast is celebrated that month. This November the focus is on Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, S.J., whose feastday is November 23. He died a young man, only two years after his priestly ordination. It was his lot to be called to serve the church at the time of the Mexican Revolution back in the early days of the 20th century.

When the Revolution began he and his fellow Jesuit novices were sent out of the country, but after his ordination in 1925 in Belgium, he returned to his own nation where the government had forbidden public worship and priestly ministry. He did his priestly work almost like an undercover agent. When he was falsely accused of an assassination attempt on a political leader he was sent to prison. On November 23, 1927, he faced a firing squad. Before his execution he asked for some time to pray. He then stood, refused a blindfold and stretched out his arms in the shape of a cross, forgiving his executioners. When the soldiers raised their weapons, Father Pro shouted out, “Viva Cristo Rey” (Long live Christ the King).

Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988. Like all baptized believers, he was invited to share the church’s evangelizing mission of building the kingdom of God on earth. Unlike most of us, he gave witness to the importance of that mission by surrendering his life for his people and his church. He was immediately acknowledged as a hero and, in spite of prohibitions from the government, thousands of people walked in procession, sang and prayed at his funeral.

This coming weekend, November 24-25, 2007, Catholics around the world will be celebrating the feast of Our Lord, Jesus Christ the King. It is the final weekend of the liturgical year and soon our hearts will turn to thoughts of Christmas as the Advent season begins the following weekend. With Christ as our King, we Christians are citizens of the kingdom of God Jesus came to build on this earth. But all the work wasn’t accomplished two thousand years ago during his public ministry. He established a church to carry on the work of kingdom-building throughout the ages. Now that evangelizing task is ours.

We are reminded that the kingdom which Jesus came to establish was the kingdom of his Father, a universal kingdom of love, justice and peace, a kingdom of healing and forgiveness in all circumstances, with no royal trappings at all. In fact, as it turns out, the throne of our King was a cross on a barren hill outside the ancient city of Jerusalem. That cross is a permanent reminder to all people of all ages that ours is indeed a King of mercy, love and peace.

As we prepare our hearts for a new liturgical year and the many challenges that confront our church’s evangelizing mission, we would do well to remember what it means to be true evangelizers of God’s Kingdom. The work of evangelization is at heart the work of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon his apostles that first Pentecost, they were transformed from timid believers into zealous witnesses for all they had experienced and heard in the presence of Jesus Christ. We too have received that gift of the Holy Spirit in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.

Evangelization happens in our families when parents pass the faith onto their children. It happens in our churches through the proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the saving deeds of Jesus. It is evident to the community when we go about our work responsibly, share our blessings with our neighbors and care for the stranger, the poor and the needy. It is simply through the ordinary activities of our Catholic life that we proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and call ourselves and others to conversion and new life in Christ.

What about building the kingdom? How do we do it? Making the presence, the love and care of our God felt in today’s world typically occurs in two ways: by our witness, which is the simple living of the faith, and by our sharing, which is spreading the good news of Jesus in a very explicit way. It is clearly our hope that the story of Jesus will be influential far beyond our own church communities. It is not enough for us to live as the gospel teaches on our own. Our faith must also touch the values of our communities, our nation and our world.

At a recent meeting with members of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, we talked about the ways Christian people of all denominations might more effectively be present as a truly religious and spiritual leaven in our very unchurched communities here in Oregon. We talked about the fact that it is evangelization, that central mission of the church, which should bring us together to serve a common purpose. Building the kingdom of God on earth, proclaiming the good news of salvation and calling people to conversion is not a denominational prerogative of Catholics or any other church. Strengthening the bonds between heaven and earth is what we are all about. It would seem we can do that more effectively together and thereby transform our communities, our state, our nation and even our world into communities of love, justice and peace.

Whereas it is true that Catholic people have both received from and contributed significantly to American culture, there is still much more that together we can do with our ecumenical partners to bring new life and new hope to our country. We Catholics can be proud of our profound and consistent moral teaching based upon the dignity and destiny of every person created by God. But pride isn’t enough. Witness and sharing are clearly needed in this age when human life from conception to natural death is undervalued at best and threatened at worst. Furthermore, American Catholics continue to serve people who are most in need, educationally, socially, materially and spiritually. This work too must continue and here in the Archdiocese of Portland we need to focus our energies on accomplishing those goals.
As we conclude this year of grace on the feast of Christ the King, we thank God for the many faithful partners in our parishes who daily contribute their time, treasure and talent for the purposes of continuing our evangelizing mission. But we also pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to guide us in the new year before us, mindful that, our best human efforts are inadequate for the task unless they are fired by the power of the Holy Spirit, the lasting and most precious gift from Christ our King to his church. Yes, long live Christ the King, in our hearts, in this archdiocese, in our world!