Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Garcia was the principal celebrant of a Jan. 14 Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento to commemorate the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., sponsored by the Sacramento Black Catholic Council.

Father Ambrose Ugwuegbu concelebrated the Mass and permanent deacons Allen Pierre and Gerry Pauly also participated.

The bishop directed his homily to the entire congregation through a dialogue with children in attendance from Immaculate Conception School in Sacramento.

St. Charles Borromeo School eighth graders (left to right) Terryn Charles, Marissa Montoya, Kim McGann, Ashley Perry and Kevin Osborne enjoy a classroom visit from seminarian Jim Sullivan. Cathy Joyce/Herald photo

“We commemorate a man who has given us so much hope, so much courage by his own life and by the wisdom of his many words,” Bishop Garcia said.

“The memory of Martin Luther King is very much alive in our hearts; we still talk about him a lot,” he added. “We remember him, but we also pray for the many things he tried to do in his life and realize in his dreams. He helps us to see what we have to continue in our own lives.”

Referring to one of the liturgy’s Scripture readings, the bishop said that just as Isaiah the prophet said his voice would not be silenced, King’s voice will not be silenced.

“Even though he was killed,” he said, “that voice continues to ring in our hearts and in our ears. We all must try to help realize his dream together.”

King’s dream at its most basic was that “we all would love each other,” Bishop Garcia said. “It is a dream about a whole different kind of world, where there would not be violence in our streets, in our families and in ourselves.”

—Information provided by Cathy Joyce and Octavia Simien

Copyright © 2001 Diocese of Sacramento - All Rights Reserved

[Catholic Herald - This Issue]