Martin Luther King Jr. Mass of Remembrance at Co-Cathedral, Jan. 16
January 5, 2011
HOUSTON — More than 40 years after his death, the words of Martin Luther King Jr. continue to resonate with those striving for human rights or simply grasping for hope. And with each passing decade, King's actions and "non-actions" for the causes of tolerance and inclusivity remain benchmarks to all faiths throughout the world.
The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will honor the Civil Rights leader with its annual Mass of Remembrance at 3 p.m. on Jan. 16 at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston, an opportunity for local Catholics to celebrate King's life, good works and legacy.
The Texas Catholic Herald recently visited with Deacon Leonard Lockett, Vicar for Catholics of African Descent, about King's impact on the Church and how individuals can follow his example.
TCH: Why is the Mass for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. so significant to the Catholic community of the Archdiocese?
Lockett: It is a great celebration because of what Dr. King meant to us as members of African descent and especially those of us who are African American. We are very happy and very proud of the contributions Dr. King made for us as a people.
Of course, as Catholics we believe in the communion of saints and we also have that rich tradition in our Church of martyrs. To many of us, we see Dr. King as a martyr because he died for the cause, just like martyrs died in the early Church and continue to die in the Church. We believe Dr. King was a modern day martyr because he gave up his life for what he believed — as a minister and civil rights leader, something we can all identify with as Roman Catholics.
TCH: How would you describe the impact Dr. King's life continues to have on people of faith?
Lockett: Like all great leaders, after they die, their work still goes on. Jesus is the greatest example of that — His movement went on [through] the Church. Look at [Mahatma] Gandhi and what he did in freeing people in India. And that movement is still continuing,as Dr. King's movement is still continuing … Even though Dr. King is no longer with us, we still have his speeches, his tapes, his books, so his memory still lives on and will always live on until the end of time.
TCH: What do you hope Catholics learn from his words and example?
Lockett: If Dr. King was alive today, the message he would teach would be one of tolerance. At one time we could agree to disagree, but in our world today, it is difficult for us. Dr. King always spoke a message of tolerance and I think if we look at our world today, that is one of the things we are lacking.
Dr. King spoke of love, spoke of justice, but at the heart of all of that is tolerance. I think that is one of the things our world needs. There is just no tolerance anymore; nobody respects anyone's religious opinions or political opinions. I might not agree with your political beliefs or your religious beliefs, but you have a right to believe what you believe.
TCH: What do you ultimately want people to take from their experience at the Mass in January when remembering the life of Dr. King?
Lockett: Dr. King did make mistakes in life like we all made mistakes in life, but he confessed his mistakes and asked his Lord for forgiveness. Dr. King was not perfect, none of us are perfect. We all fall short. Our Creator made us imperfect, but we can all strive for perfection. We have to try to realize that [when using] Dr. King as an example of striving for perfection. At least, let us try and live by his message of peace and brotherhood. To us, Dr. King was a modern day prophet and a modern day martyr. And as Roman Catholics, we can identify with that message. He never considered himself a great individual, he just considered himself a servant of the Lord. I think that is the heart of Dr. King's message. He tried to do God's will, and we need to try to be prayerful in our discernment and find out where our Lord is calling us to serve. We can't all be Dr. Kings, but we can all serve. And that is one of the things that Dr. King stated — we can all serve.
To keep Dr. King's memory alive, we should all identify a place in our world where we can serve and help our brothers and sisters in need not necessarily as martyrs or as prophets, but just as solid, everyday servants of almighty God. †
jdycus@archgh.org