Detroit — About 600 people came to the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit on Jan. 17 for a spirited liturgy in remembrance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the vision he gave to the country.

The liturgy to mark King’s legacy, concelebrated this year by more than a dozen priests, is an annual practice in the archdiocese, sponsored by its Office of Evangelization, Catechesis and Schools.

“We need Jesus to keep the dream alive,” said Fr. Daniel Trapp, pastor of St. Augustine and St. Monica Parish in Detroit and the main celebrant at the Mass. “There is no segment of society, no person, who is not called by God into His own bountiful life.”

Fr. Trapp spoke about the relationship between King’s vision of a “Beloved Community” and the need for a Christ-centered attitude among Christians.



Among those in attendance at the Mass were the Knights and Ladies of Peter Claver, the largest African American Catholic lay organization, and many representatives from Catholic parishes and schools in the city. Youths even performed a liturgical dance as the gifts were brought forth during offertory.

During the Mass, students from several parishes were called up to receive awards for their participation in a student art and essay contest, sponsored by the Knights of Peter Claver and the archdiocese. Winners of the essay contest even read their essays to the congregation.  A story on the essay contest and its winners can be found in our Catholic Schools section.

Attendees spoke highly of the music at Mass, which was led by a choir that was formed recently by the archdiocese’s Office for Black Catholic Ministries.

John Thorne, coordinator of Office for Black Catholic Ministries and director of the choir, took to the podium at the close of the liturgy to thank all who were involved and to reiterate the community’s commitment to what King had brought to the country through his famous dream.

“It is not a dream that is dead, but a dream that is living,” said Thorne. “The dream must live on, because the dream is in you, and the dream is also in me.”

Following Mass, attendees said they appreciated that the archdiocese pays heed to King’s legacy of fighting for equality of all people.

“I wanted to do something powerful and significant for King Day, and I didn’t realize that Blessed Sacrament would be part of something like that,” said Diane Chapman, 50, of St. Cecilia Parish in Detroit. “Now that I’m here, I will be coming back.”

She added that she was especially buoyed by seeing the youths who took part in the essay and art contest.

“As time goes by, we lose track of the meaning of King’s dream because the world is so much more violent now and so much more global,” she said. “So that’s what stood out to me was the youth and their essays and they’re participation… and of course the wonderful singing.”