This year the Diocese of Fort Worth recently marked the 25th annual Mass of remembrance for Dr. Martin Luther King. The first Mass and remembrance of this kind was organized by Father Carmen Mele OP, and was celebrated at the Catholic Center. In the years that followed, the celebration moved around to several parishes in the "Metroplex" area, always with a guest homilist, who was either a Josephite or a Divine Word priest. This year the Mass was celebrated at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The choir was from the venerable and beloved parish of Our Mother of Mercy in Fort Worth. There was a good crowd for the Mass and a number of priests were present, along with Deacon Leonard Sanchez, Chancellor of the Diocese who helped to organize this important celebration. I was the principal celebrant and the guest homilist was Bishop Martin Holley, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. I knew Bishop Holley from the "New Bishops School" which we attended in Rome together in the Fall of 2005. I invited Bishop Holley to be the homilist at this Mass, and in his sermon he spoke about the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. At the same time, he made a clear connection between human dignity and human life and the inviolability of life before birth. He reminded us that, "Today, we are challenged to continue living his dream and the only way that we can keep Dr. Kings dream alive is by living it, and following the example that he gave us. In reality, it means living the Life of Christ, who is the WAY, the Truth, and the Life, and by facing the challenges that our modern society presents to us today and applying the Gospel values of peace and justice, by respecting the dignity of every human being."
Thank you, +Bishop Martin Holley for your powerful preaching and words to all of us on this important occasion.