“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
When Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his stirring “I Have a Dream Speech” in 1963, he did so with a grand vision for peace and justice in the world. He would likely be proud to see this vision being carried on today in many ways, including by the Archdiocese of Denver’s Office of Black Catholic Ministry.
The 12th Annual Peace and Justice Mass sponsored by the Office of Black Catholic Ministry of the Archdiocese of Denver will be celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Jorge Rodríguez on Monday, Jan. 15 at 9 a.m. at Curé d’Ars Parish in Denver. Each year, the Mass is held on the federal holiday observing of the birthdate of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in recognition of his Christian values and nonviolent resistance against racial discrimination. All are invited to attend.
“I am always encouraged when Catholics of other races and ethnicities join Black Catholics for this Eucharist celebration,” said Kateri Williams, director of the Office of Black Catholic Ministry. “The myriad of faces in the pews illustrate a beautiful reflection of the world that Dr. King envisioned and the vision of what God expects of us as brothers and sisters in Christ, all made in the image and likeness of God.”
This annual event is just one of many that Williams and the Office of Black Catholic Ministry sponsors each year, and their efforts to educate and evangelize are continually growing.
From the “Acknowledging the Sin of Racism” webinar, hosted in partnership with the Archdiocesan Committee for Racial Equality and Justice, to the day of reflection for Black Catholic History Month in November 2022, through the National Black Catholic Congress in Summer 2023 and the performance by W. Clifford Petty in November 2023, Williams and the Office of Black Catholic Ministry are looking forward to what 2024 has to bring.
“Celebrating what makes each and every one of us unique helps us embrace the blessings of the different gifts that God has bestowed on all brothers and sisters in Christ, ‘so that they may all be one’ (Jn 17:21),” Williams shared, summarizing the importance of this ministry in the Archdiocese of Denver.
As we honor Martin Luther King Jr. this coming Monday, may we, too, echo these words of prayer from him, so that this vision of peace and justice may be made manifest in our world: “Oh God… help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together until that day when all of God’s children — Black, White, Red, and Yellow — will rejoice in one common band of humanity in the kingdom of our Lord and of our God, we pray. Amen.”