Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute

By Rev. Bob Johnnene OFD, Mission Saints Sergius & Bacchus/  Franciscans Divine Mercy

www.missionstsergius.org

http://franciscansdivinemercy.org

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.”

On this the 44^th anniversary of the killing of Doctor Martin Luther king Jr. what better way to remember his legacy that to continue to have a dream.

In his speech given on August 28^th, 1963 on the mall in Washington DC he began the section of about his dream for America with these words “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”

Sadly these 49 years later the dream is still not complete. Every day we hear of people being bullied because of their race, nationality, religion or even the clothes they wear. Some have been killed or driven to commit suicide because of the taunting they endured.

Dr. King spoke these words on that August day, “I have a dream that one day states will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

A nation where equality is the rule of life no one would be criticized or excluded because of their nationality, religious conviction, race, sexual orientation or marital condition.  No one would be rejected from having the same rights and privileges as every other citizen. In a world where Equality was the rule and not the exception no one would go hungry, homeless or unable to afford decent medical treatment and every person would be able to find a way to earn a living.

As we gather today to give tribute to Dr. King I can think of no better way for us to honor this great man and humanitarian than to do all in our power to bring about the time He dreamed about 49 years ago.  A time as he so eloquently said “we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood, a time when we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, stand up for freedom together. When this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, gays and straights will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

 Let us pray that on the 50^th anniversary of that great speech we will truly have achieved a time where justice and equality is available to every citizen and every child has enough food to eat, a warm place to live, the opportunity for an affordable education, where every adult is able to find work and where all law abiding individuals regardless of their race, religion or sexual orientation have all the rights and benefits accorded to every citizen.  Let us strive to achieve a time were homelessness, hunger and poverty are overcome by compassion, generosity and a sharing of our resources especially by those who have been blessed with wealth and have been elected to uphold the constitution of this great nation.

As Dr. King said that day; “the architects of our republic who wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. AMEN