Catholic Standard El Pregonero
Latest Paper Classifieds Buy Photos

Cardinal Gregory’s homily at 2021 Mass honoring Dr. King: ‘A Recipe for Greatness!’

The following is the text of the homily Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory delivered at the Archdiocese of Washington’s annual Mass honoring the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which was held this year on Jan. 16 at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Washington, D.C. Cardinal Gregory was celebrant and homilist at the annual Mass to honor the slain civil rights leader.

Occasionally all of us could probably use a good PR agent – life itself perhaps might be so much easier for many of us with such an agent! Agents, in the world of public relations, in media terminology, in the world of sports, entertainment, and politics are people who can make the ordinary appear to be extraordinary. A good agent can help to blunt criticism, to keep your name before the public eye, and to put all of your decisions in the best possible light. A good agent can find the right places in which you ought to be seen, the right people with whom you ought to associate, and the right clothes for you to wear. If I had a really good agent, I bet that even I could be a true hero. Most African-American heroes and heroines did not have the benefit of a good agent. Actually, most of the people that we honor around the time of Dr. King’s birthday memorial were not even given the common decency of human respect and impartiality, let alone the advantages of good press – including Dr. King himself.

Our African-American military heroes and heroines often had to serve our country in segregated troops because of our African ancestry. Our religious and prominent political voices were quite familiar with bitter discrimination and rejection. These men and women became heroes and heroines in spite of the obstacles that they faced. This, in my opinion, made them even more important historical figures than they would have been had they been given all of the advantages of modern-day media exposure and wide social acceptance. They became great because they lived by principles that were not very popular then nor today.

The Beatitudes are the Lord’s proposed route to greatness. Jesus urges meekness, gentleness of spirit, hunger and thirst for justice, mercy, and serene endurance as the desired path to greatness. These are not fashionable qualities today and they were not prized during Jesus’s time either.

African-American heroes and heroines have an important lesson to offer all Americans because they exhibit a determination and a moral integrity that enriches our nation and perfects the human spirit. These men and women, scientists, artists, sports persons, scholars, and adventurers were invited to pursue greatness in the face of tremendous obstacles. They bore the brunt of rejection because of their race and heritage, yet they did not succumb to the pressures of a hostile society. The secret to human greatness and to spiritual excellence is not to be found in “marketing” an individual, but in having a person live up to the highest qualities within himself – living proudly according to the content of their character.

This Monday, we will observe the official day set aside to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is very important that we do so because for far too long, Americans have remained ignorant of the contributions that African-Americans have made to our country. There are still too many people, African-Americans included, who know too little of the full history and heritage of America with all of those who were contributors to that history. Part of our history is the courage and the determination of men and women who pursued the greatness of their humanity in spite of all of the obstacles that were placed before them because they were African-Americans, or who spoke English with an accent, or whose facial features were not considered appropriate or attractive, or whose surnames were not common or easily pronounced, or because

they had a physical or mental disability, or because they followed a non-traditional religious belief, or maybe because they were short of stature, or perhaps simply because they were women.

There is a reliable recipe for human greatness and spiritual excellence and that recipe can never be achieved simply with the help of any agent. We are all called to greatness. You will set your sights too low if you think that what society expects of you, what your families long for you, what the Church invites you to is mere human mediocrity. In the Beatitudes, we find not the guidelines for a few, not the suggested life pattern of certain Christian heroes and heroines, but the way of life for us all. There is no agent who can help you to fake the Christian life. Either you are a person of faith and Christian principles or you are not. There is no faking our life in Christ – as Dr. King reminded the entire world.

What is important for all of us during these days dedicated to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King is to discover that he along with all the men and women who joined with him in the civil rights struggle realized their potential in the face of overwhelming odds. They pursued greatness when many people thought that they were not worthy of human respect or dignity. That is the way to greatness in any society and among all people. There is no easy recipe. There is only courage and hope. May each of us find enough of these virtues to become the people that the Lord invites us to become within the Church and for our world. Dr. King lived the Beatitudes, because he knew that was the recipe to greatness. Amen.

Menu
Search