With the voice of a prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed: “With faith, we will be able to go on to carve a tower of hope on the mountain of despair, and bring into being that great dream, and create right here in America a nation where all will live together … and respect the dignity and worth of the human personality.”
As we mark the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s death, we are mindful of ways in which our society has made strides towards that vision which he described, yet mindful also of the tight grip with which the sin of racism yet holds us.
Let us pray for the grace, determination and courage by which we might yet carve that tower of hope on the mountain of despair. Pray that, like Dr. King, you and I might be possessed by justice and truth, until that day when justice reigns supreme.
The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates
The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris
Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
(Lesser Feasts and Fasts, Collect for April 4)