Bishop preaches during special Mass for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as parishes plan service projects across archdiocese

DETROIT — Martin Luther King Jr. had family in the Archdiocese of Detroit, testing his “I Have a Dream’’ speech at a major Detroit event and giving one of his last addresses in Grosse Pointe just three weeks before his assassination. 

More than a half century after he was shot and killed at age 39, King continues to move and inspire generations in Detroit and across the nation. 

Just as Detroit clergy and religious marched with King during his short lifetime, dozens of priests and seminarians came to honor his legacy during a special Mass on Jan. 20 at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

“It was during my years at Sacred Heart (Major Seminary) that I got to know who Dr. King really was,’’ said Auxiliary Bishop Donald F. Hanchon, who gave the homily during Monday's Mass. “The staff at the seminary on the day of his funeral left an unforgettable impression on my heart, to see them silently serving us lunch as we watched his funeral ... Martin Luther King was part of a wonderful family of faith.’’

As a young director of vocations, Bishop Hanchon told of a time he was flying to Florida and had to make a three-hour layover in Atlanta. Something told him to take a cab to King’s church, the place where the civil rights leader was buried. Then-Fr. Hanchon arrived and the church was locked. 

“Something was going on at the church and the door was closed, but there was an elderly gentleman receiving guests and nobody else was around, so I said ‘Excuse me, I’m a priest from Detroit and I wanted to spend a few minutes in your church in prayer,’’’ Bishop Hanchon recalled. 

King’s nephew was waxing the church floor the day Bishop Hanchon arrived, and he was told not to bother the nephew. But he went inside and picked up a hymnal. A page fell out with the words, “I heard the voice of Jesus say 'Come unto me and rest.'’’ 

Bishop Hanchon prayed for “a wonderful half hour’’ in the church where King had preached, then returned to the elderly gentleman in the vestibule to thank him for letting him inside.

“I’m Daddy King,’’ the elderly gentleman, Martin Luther King Sr., told Bishop Hanchon. “I’m the father of this place, and Martin was my son.’’ 

Bishop Hanchon recalled: “He told me about family he had in the Detroit area. What a privilege it was to be in Martin’s house, to meet his father.’’ 

While the Mass attracted people of all ages and races — including young school children and older Catholics who remembered King — a service day was planned for Saturday, Jan. 18, during which parishes organized more than a dozen activities to give back to the community. 

While Saturday’s snow and ice storm delayed some of the activities until later dates, numerous Catholic parishes and schools planned service projects to honor King’s legacy, including Notre Dame Preparatory in Pontiac; the Sacred Heart parishes in Detroit, Dearborn and Grosse Isle; the National Shrine of the Little Flower Basilica in Royal Oak; Christ the King, St. Charles Lwanga, St. Moses the Black, St. Juan Diego, Corpus Christi, Nativity of Our Lord, SS. Peter and Paul (West Side) and St. Elizabeth in Detroit; St. Mary in Wayne; St. Colette in Livonia; St. John Vianney in Shelby Township; St. Ronald in Clinton Township; Christ Our Light in Troy; Divine Child in Dearborn; and St. Pio of Pietrelcina in Roseville. 

The planned volunteer work included everything from painting and preparing meals to hosting events for developmentally disabled adults, giving out coats, cleaning bathrooms, kitchens, walls, floors and windows. Others volunteered to pack and sort clothes, food, books and toys.

“It’s a great day to work,’’ said SaTrice Coleman-Betts, executive director of the St. Patrick Senior Center in Detroit. “(Volunteers) help me cook meals, all sorts of things. The Archdiocese of Detroit is always helping create an intergenerational experience, spreading knowledge across generations.’’

At Monday’s Mass, Bishop Hanchon had the crowd singing one of King’s favorite songs, “We shall overcome.”

The bishop, singing a capella, added verses many were unfamiliar with, starting with a verse including a message made famous by St. John Paul the Great, as “We are not afraid’’ replaced “We shall overcome.’’ Then “someday’’ became  “today’’ for a powerful “We are not afraid, we are not afraid today.”

The diverse crowd concluded the song with a third verse focusing on Christian unity: “We are brothers all, we are brothers all, we are brothers all today.’’ 

“Martin had aspirations,’’ Bishop Hanchon said. “He went to Harvard and got his doctorate ... He aspired to be great.’’

One of King’s favorite Scripture verses was the story of the man knocking on a door after midnight seeking food, Bishop Hanchon noted. Why did the man come so late? Because he knew what he was seeking was there. He certainly wouldn’t come if he didn’t expect something to be there. 

Similarly, Bishop Hanchon said, “When people come knocking at the door of the Church, we need to open it for them because they sense something we have.’’ 

“We’re so pulled apart, we’re so divided into camps and the dialogue across barriers is too infrequent,’’ Bishop Hanchon said. “Dr. King would have us bridge the gap, as Jesus did. The word in Hebrew for ‘holy’ means ‘different.’    

“God is different. Our God is not one who wipes people out, He is the one who lifts people up ... This is the Jesus Martin knew. Martin learned he could go to Jesus when things weren’t going well ...  He preached with authority, and that’s why we remember him.’’