SAMUELS: Catholics are called to make ‘I Have a Dream’ a reality

January 14, 2020

This Jan. 19 at 3 p.m., the Archdiocese will celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. at a Mass in the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.

As the Church celebrates the life of Martin Luther King Jr., we have a mandate to follow through with the legacy that this great man has left us. It is fitting for this day, and on the holiday on Jan. 20, to remember the famous speech “I Have a Dream,” however, we are called as a Church to make this “Dream” a reality and use these famous words as a call to action.

In addressing the United States Congress in September 2015, Pope Francis singled out King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

“That dream continues to inspire us all,” he said. “I am happy that America continues to be, for many, a land of ‘dreams.’ Dreams which lead to action, to participation, to commitment. Dreams which awaken what is deepest and truest in the life of a people.”

On this significant holiday of our nation, we need to know that as we dream of a brighter future, the Catholic faithful are called to take action with the grace of God to make that future as bright as we possibly can for all the people of our Church, nation and world.

In his 2017 address to the Church of the United States, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, then president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), stated of King and the mandate of the American people: “Since the time of the founding fathers, our country has been blessed with citizens who have had the courage to rise above the challenges of their day and call their citizens forward in the unending task of building an ever more just nation.”

In light of the issues that were facing the nations, the USCCB created the “Task Force to Promote Peace in Our Communities,” which was called to examine and report on how the bishops of the United States could improve their contribution to the ongoing effort to promote and build a just Church and nation.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory was given the task of leading this task force and, in his concluding report, noted: “The efforts to root out racism and create healthy dynamics in our neighborhoods, dynamics based on encounter and deeper understanding, is a long-term project.”

One of the documents that was created out of the work of the task force was the creation of the bishops pastoral letter “Open Wide Our Hearts: The enduring call to love a pastoral letter against Racism,” which was released in 2018. In this pastoral letter, the Catholic bishops state: “The roots of racism have extended deeply into the soul of our society. Racism can only end if we contend with the policies and institutional barriers that perpetuate and preserve the inequality — economic and social — that we still see all around us.”

On this significant holiday of our nation, we need to know that as we dream of a brighter future, the Catholic faithful are called to take action with the grace of God to make that future as bright as we possibly can for all the people of our Church, nation and world.

The Catholic bishops, in their pastoral letter Open Wide our Hearts, goes to state: “We with renewed vigor, we call on the members of the Body of Christ to join others in advocating and promoting policies at all levels that will combat racism and its effects in our civic and social institutions.”

The ‘Dream’ now becomes action.

Father Reginald Samuels is the vicar of Catholics of African Descent and pastor of St. Hyacinth Catholic Church in Deer Park.