MLK Mass of Remembrance: 54 years since Martin Luther King Jr.
January 12, 2022
The Mass of Remembrance for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., celebrating his call for peace through service to one another, is set for 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1111 St. Joseph Parkway.
The civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner was assassinated in 1968 at the age of 39, but made astounding societal changes in his short life.
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo will be the principal celebrant of the Mass commemorating the social justice leader, and Father Houston Okonma, parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, will be the homilist. The Catholic African American Ministry choir will sing.
“Martin Luther King Jr., in many minds, is a great face against racism and injustice. But in celebrating his life and achievement, it is important to self-reflect upon our own biases and stereotypes and see if there is any room for that in the Kingdom of God,” said Rev. Okonma.
He added, “Martin Luther King Jr. is simply a participant in our Savior’s war against sin, a war that was victorious on the Cross, inviting us to freely choose God instead of choosing ourselves. We are all called to participate in this same love.”
Hundreds of people usually attend the Archdiocesan Mass every year commemorating King’s Jan. 15th birthday and the federal holiday in his honor that falls on the third Monday in January.
The Mass will also be livestreamed at www.archgh.org/live