18.5 F
Saint Paul
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Archbishop Hebda gives national tribute to MLK, prays his vision will be realized

On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said he has long admired King and has been inspired by his preaching, pastoral skills, commitment to nonviolence, sense of justice, and “his understanding of the connection that must be made between faith and action and civil society.”

“His witness continues to tug at my Catholic heart,” he said.

Archbishop Hebda was one of nearly 100 speakers, musical artists and other presenters in a 12-hour, interfaith, virtual tribute to King’s life and legacy Jan. 17. “Justice Sunday: Service Around the Clock” included several presentations from across the United States each hour beginning at noon and ending at midnight. Archbishop Hebda was one of nine presenters who spoke during the 7 p.m. (CST) hour with the theme “To Serve This Present Age.”

In his eight-minute reflection, Archbishop Hebda noted that, on the Sunday following King’s 1968 death, St. Paul VI shared his sorrow with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. He called King’s assassination the “killing of a Christian prophet for racial integration,” but he had hope that people would be inspired by him to work to overcome racial struggles.

In 2015, when Pope Francis became the first pope to address Congress, he also spoke about King and how his dream has inspired people around the world, Archbishop Hebda said.

“Inspired by Dr. King and following the lead of Pope Francis, the Catholic bishops of the United States have taught that love compels each of us to resist racism, courageously,” he said. “It requires us to reach out generously to the victims of this evil, to assist the conversion needed in those who still harbor racism, and to begin to change policies and structures that allow racism to persist.”

- Advertisement -

He continued: “Overcoming racism is a demand of justice, but because Christian love transcends justice, the end of racism will mean that our community will bear fruit beyond simply the fair treatment of all. After all, within the human family, As St. John Paul II said, ‘Each people preserves and expresses its own identity, and enriches others with its gift of culture.’”

Archbishop Hebda said that he feels blessed by the gift of culture offered by black Catholics within the faith community he leads, as well as African Americans’ many contributions to civil society and the Church.

“I am so often inspired by their deep faith in God, their resilience in the face of antipathy, their beautiful expressions of movement, music and art, and their deeply embodied expressions of relationship with each other and with our God,” he said.

Yet, he said, as King is commemorated this year, “it is all too painful that we are still lamenting the stark reality of racism in our world, our country and our local community.”

“The events of 2020 and the memory of George Floyd remind us of the work that still needs to be done in these circumstances,” Archbishop Hebda said. “I hasten not only to be united with all who share Dr. King’s dream, but also to pray for that action, participation and commitment desired by Pope Francis that will give flesh and bones to Dr. King’s dream.”

Floyd, a black man, was killed in police custody in May in Minneapolis, and his death prompted protests against racial inequality and riots across the world.

Archbishop Hebda ended his reflection with a prayer that included requests for unity, equity and justice, as well as for forgiveness “for all those times when the equality of your sons and daughters has not been acknowledged, and when even people of faith have been guilty of attitudes of rejection and exclusion, consenting to acts of discrimination on the basis of racial and ethnic differences.”

He concluded the prayer with a final commendation to King: “O, God, give us the grace we need so that the beloved community foretold by the prophets and encouraged by Dr. Martin Luther King might be realized here and now.”

The only Catholic cleric in the event lineup, Archbishop Hebda was one of several Minnesota faith leaders who appeared as part of the program. Others included Imam Makram El-Amin of Masjid An Nur in Minneapolis; Randi Ilyse Roth, executive director of Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul; Steve Daniels Jr. of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in St. Paul; Yohuru Williams, founding director of the Racial Justice Institute at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul; Rev. Dr. Melvin G. Miller of Progressive Baptist Church in St. Paul; Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker of Mt. Zion Temple in St. Paul, Rev. Dr. James C. Thomas of Mount Olivet Baptist Church in St. Paul; Presiding Elder Stacey L. Smith, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Fourth Episcopal District; and Ruling Elder Elona Street-Stewart of Synod of Lakes and Prairies, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

“Justice Sunday: Service Around the Clock” was organized by the 400 Years of African-American History Commission, established by Congress in 2018 to coordinate commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the first arrival of enslaved Africans to the American colonies in 1619. The event was coordinated by the Advisory Committee on Justice and

 


Related Articles

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

Trending

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
12,743FansLike
1,478FollowersFollow
6,479FollowersFollow
35,922FollowersFollow
583SubscribersSubscribe
- Advertisement -