SAN DIEGO — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “was a man deeply shaped” by Jesus, said Auxiliary Bishop Felipe Pulido at a special Mass remembering the civil rights giant.
The diocese held the eighth annual Mass to honor Dr. King’s call to service on Jan. 18, the day before the national holiday celebrating what would have been his 97th birthday. The diocese’s Commission for African American Catholics organized the Mass, held at St. Rita Church in Southeast San Diego.
Dr. King “believed that the world’s deepest wounds — racism, violence, hatred — were not simply social problems, but spiritual sicknesses,” Bishop Pulido said in his homily. “And he believed that only love, rooted in God, could heal them.”
He said that, “On this day of remembrance, the question before us is not only ‘Do we honor Dr. King?’ The deepest question is, ‘Who are we pointing to?’ Do our words and actions point to the Lamb of God? Do they help take away the sin of the world, or do they add to it?” he said referring to the day’s reading, John 1:29-34.
As is customary, the Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary processed into the church at the beginning of the Mass. Auxiliary Bishop Pulido was accompanied by fellow Auxiliary Bishop Ramón Bejarano, vicar general for the diocesan Office for Ethnic and Intercultural Communities; Father Chris Bongato, the office’s secretary; Father Silverio Espenilla, Jr., St. Rita’s pastor; and Deacons Robert Booth and Marvin Threatt, PhD.
The Mass-goers responded with warm applause when it was noted that Bishop Bejarano had been named bishop of the Diocese of Monterey.
The Commission for African American Catholics is one of the oldest cultural organizations in the diocese. Its chair, Rick Stewart, told the Mass-goers that the group also would organize the annual Juneteenth Mass, which will be held this year on June 21, also at St. Rita Church.
St. Rita’s multicultural community turned out, including Filipinos, Hispanics and Whites, as well as African Americans. The Christ the King Sanctuary Gospel Choir, directed by Rhonda Hatch Malone, provided the joyous music.
“This song is needed now more than ever,” said Hatch Malone, at the conclusion of the Mass, announcing “We Shall Overcome,” which Mass-goers sang, some holding hands. The song was the powerful anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, once led by Dr. King.
The following is the text of Bishop Pulido’s homily:
In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist does something very simple, and very brave. He points away from himself and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
John doesn’t offer a program. He doesn’t give a strategy. He doesn’t call people to follow him. He points to a person. He points to Jesus.
He names the deepest problem of our human heart, sin. Not just personal wrongdoing, but the sin of the world, the sin that distorts relationships, the sin that hardens hearts, the sin that builds walls, justifies injustice and convinces us that some lives matter more than others.
It is striking that John does not say, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who condemns the world,” but “who takes away the sin of the world.”
This is the mission of Jesus: not destruction, but redemption; not revenge, but reconciliation.
Today, as we remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this Gospel speaks with particular clarity. Dr. King was a man deeply shaped by this vision of Jesus. He believed that the world’s deepest wounds — racism, violence, hatred — were not simply social problems, but spiritual sicknesses.
And he believed that only love, rooted in God, could heal them.
Like John the Baptist, Dr. King pointed beyond himself. Again and again, he pointed to Christ. He believed that the power to change history did not come from hatred answering hatred, but from love that refuses to surrender its soul. He once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.” That conviction flows straight from the Gospel.
John the Baptist also tells us today, “I do not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize told me.” In other words, John learned who Jesus was by listening to God and by watching where the Spirit rested. That detail really matters.
The Spirit doesn’t rest where there is pride, fear or domination. The Spirit rests where there is humanity, truth and courageous love. Dr. King trusted the same Spirit, a Spirit that descends not in fire or violence, but like a dove, gentle, persistent and unstoppable. A spirit that leads us to stand for justice without losing compassion, to speak truth without abandoning mercy.
At the end of the Gospel, John says, “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
That is our calling too, not just to admire Jesus, but to testify to him with our lives.
On this day of remembrance, the question before us is not only “Do we honor Dr. King?” The deepest question is, “Who are we pointing to?” Do our words and actions point to the Lamb of God? Do they help take away the sin of the world, or do they add to it?
To behold the Lamb of God, means allowing Christ to remove from us whatever does not belong to love: prejudice, indifference, fear of the other, silence in the face of injustice.
Martin Luther King said, “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of the period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”
May we, like John the Baptist, have the courage to point to Jesus.
May we, like Dr. King, have the faith to believe that love is stronger than hate.
And may the Lamb of God take away the sin of the world — beginning with our own hearts.
