by Marie Elena Giossi
For many, the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was simply a holiday from work. But for those gathered at St. Gregory the Great Church, Crown Heights, last Monday, Jan. 20, it was a day set aside to remember a martyr for the cause of justice.
The diocesan Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns sponsored a midday prayer and praise celebration commemorating Dr. King’s birthday through Scripture, personal testimony and musical selections by the Our Lady of Charity Choir, Weeksville.
Father Alonzo Cox, newly named diocesan coordinator of Black Catholic Concerns, welcomed the faithful and presided over the service.
“As we give thanks and praise to God for … the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King,” Father Cox said, “we gather here as people full of hope, people full of joy, knowing that the Lord will continue to shed his love and mercy on each and every one of us.” 
Father Dwayne Davis, parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas, Flatlands, who directs the vicariate’s youth leadership program, and Father Jean Delva, parochial vicar at SS. Joachim and Anne, Queens Village, were also in attendance. Deacon Al Saldana from Our Lady of Light, St. Albans, served as master of ceremonies.
Carlos Balthazar from St. Jerome, East Flatbush, and Rosanne Barber from St. Gregory the Great, sang passages from the Psalms, while youth led the prayers of the faithful.
Guest speaker, Deacon Rodney Beckford of St. Charles Borromeo Church, Harlem, spoke about the theme of the event: the broken family and the legacy of Dr. King.
He shared his personal testimony of growing up in the time of Dr. King and becoming estranged from the Church for a time after the civil rights leader was slain.
“God always sends a prophet to bring light into darkness,” he said. “In our time, it was Dr. Martin Luther King.”
Like many biblical prophets, he said, Dr. King heard the Good News in a dream, and he proclaimed that truth throughout his life.
“That truth is that freedom isn’t free, that you have to pay the price for your liberty.
“Dr. King taught us that it is possible to make a way. He made hope our shield and faith our weapon of choice against evil, against sin, against the devil.
“What enabled him to march on?” asked Deacon Beckford. “It was the truth – the truth of knowing that the Lord was his shepherd, the truth of knowing that nothing is impossible for He who walks on water.”
Prayer, he told the congregation, was at the root of everything Dr. King did to bring about social change before his life was cut short.
Devil Still in the ’Hood
“But don’t think that because Martin is in his glory that the battle is won,” the deacon said. “The devil is still in the ’hood.”
He spoke about the breakdown of family and society as evidenced by thirty-somethings becoming grandparents, siblings with different fathers, children being raised by grandparents, youngsters wearing improper attire and an overall shift toward self-absorption.
In these “confused times,” he said the way to “get back on track” is to walk the walk of the One who walked on water, starting with the Word.
He challenged the faithful to learn some Scripture by heart and further memorialize Dr. King by spreading the Good News and volunteering in their local community.
“If you want to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, take what he has done and make something of it,” Deacon Beckford said. “Turn the dream into reality.”
That exhortation affected St. Gregory the Great parishioner Jennifer Graham.
“What Deacon Beckford said about honoring Dr. King and volunteering, it really struck a nerve,” she said. “I used to volunteer and I stopped. It’s something I have to go back and revisit.”
George Bellinger Jr. volunteered his musical talents at the prayer service with Our Lady of Charity Choir. More than just his fellow singers, he said the choir members have helped him emotionally, spiritually and even financially since losing his belongings in an apartment fire last month.
In the spirit of Dr. King, he said, they are people who embrace the ideals of “selflessness, sacrifice and lifting one another up.”
