January 12, 2024
Dear Friends in Christ,
All around us we can find the chance to draw inspiration from the strength of civil rights leaders who have gone before us. You can walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama in the footsteps of peaceful demonstrators who were attacked with tear gas and billy clubs in 1965 as they attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery. Still standing is the Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas that was bravely desegregated in 1957 by nine African American students who faced harassment and threats.
Here in Maryland, courageous families integrated the Gwynn Oak Park in Woodlawn alongside members of clergy, Catholic parishioners and many others. Once home to a carousel and wooden roller coaster that barred Black children, the long-closed amusement park is now beautiful open green space that invites its visitors to pause in reflection of the country’s progress.
Like the monuments, museum exhibits and historical structures, the wisdom passed down by great leaders like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lives on. Each year as the calendar reaches the third Monday in January – this year, Monday, Jan. 15 – we are prompted to pause to remember his life and impact. We have the opportunity to learn from Dr. King’s witness to truth and justice through the surviving gift of his preaching, letters and speeches.
While the Christian pastor changed the course of the country for the better, the sin of racism, sadly, continues. The work of rooting evil out, adopting Dr. King’s principles of nonviolent direct action and abiding by the principle of “solidarity” in our Catholic social teaching is up to all of us. As I wrote in my pastoral letter, The Enduring Power of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Principles of Nonviolence, it takes a change of heart to spur us to act differently and in a positive way to achieve good. We must join our African American brothers and sisters in this struggle. We are all equal because we share a common humanity, and God is recognized in every person and every person in God.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore continues to examine questions of past and ongoing racism, future investment and opportunities to bear authentic witness to Christ and to the Gospel of the Beatitudes. The Commission on Slavery is studying the sin of racism in the local Church, documenting economic benefits tied to enslaved labor and creating opportunities to promote healing. This is part of the local Church’s Journey to Racial Justice, as we look to collectively confront the evil, heal the harm and work toward a more just and equitable future for everyone.
On Dr. King’s day of remembrance and reflection, I invite you to offer your time in service to someone, join in on a prayer walk, attend a parade or a lecture and pray. Please also consider sitting together with your child or grandchild to teach them about the life of this remarkable human soul we commemorate each year – and help the young ones to know about the work we must carry on.
Open wide our hearts
Mary, friend and mother to all, through your Son, God has found a way to unite himself to every human being, called to be one people, sister and brothers to each other. We ask for your help in calling on your Son, seeking forgiveness for the times when we have failed to love and respect one another.
We ask for your help in obtaining from your Son, the grace we need to overcome the evil of racism and to build a just society. We ask for your help in following your Son, so that prejudice and animosity will no longer infect our minds or hearts but will be replaced with a love that respects the dignity of each person.
Mother of the Church, the Spirit of your Son Jesus warms our hearts: Pray for us. Amen.
Faithfully in Christ,
Most Reverend William E. Lori
Archbishop of Baltimore