Last Monday, August 28, was the 60th anniversary of the famous “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” This was a political demonstration calling for an end to racial segregation and discrimination, and for support of pending civil rights legislation in Congress. Over 250,000 people were present to hear speakers, singers, labor leaders, religious leaders, and politicians rally for freedom for all Americans. This event is often remembered for the famous “I Have a Dream” speech of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His powerful words still resonate today.
August 28th is also remembered as a turning point in bringing the decades-old civil rights movement to the consciousness of the American people. Faith communities were an essential part of the success of the March. Many Catholics had a role in organizing this event. Responding to the “signs of the times” and encouraged by the still-in-session Second Vatican Council, the Church was involved in one of the most crucial issues of the day. Religious convents, monasteries, and seminaries in the DC area opened their homes so that marchers from around the country would have a place to stay. Washington Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle gave the invocation at the beginning of the program.
Just over fifty years after the March on Washington, Pope Francis was visiting the US and had the honor of speaking to Congress. In his reflection on some of the heroes of our time and our land, the Pope spoke of Martin Luther King, Jr. and referenced the 1963 speech. The Holy Father said, “That dream continues to inspire us all. I am happy that America continues to be, for many, a land of dreams. Dreams which lead to action, to participation, to commitment. Dreams which awaken what is deepest and truest in the life of a people."
Today, Catholics are called to continue the dream and the actions of Dr. King, Jr. and the whole civil rights movement. As Catholics who are strengthened by Salesian Spirituality, we recognize the importance of the incarnation in our world and the human dimensions of our faith. Throughout the conflicts and realities of his own times, St. Francis de Sales recognized the deep relationship between contemplation and action.
Rooted in the goals of Catholic social teaching, the Church continues to dream of fair wages and economic justice for all. Building on the message of the Gospel, Christians continue to work for civil rights and protections for all people. Attentive to the conditions of contemporary society and living in the modern world, people of faith must respond to the signs of the times. The French philosopher Simone Weil, famously wrote: “Today it is not enough merely to be a saint, but we must have the saintliness demanded by the present moment, a new saintliness.”
Time marches on. Are we, the saints of this present moment, willing to march with it?
Fr. Jack Kolodziej, OSFS
Provincial
Wilmington-Philadelphia Province
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