DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY WEEKEND IN THIS WEEK OF THE HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE..........

Friday was the 81st Birthday anniversary of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This three day weekend the United States and peoples elsewhere who are advocates of peace, justice, and equality, commemorate Dr. King whose leadership as a persuasive preacher and civil rights organizer, put him at the fulcrum of the struggle to end prejudice, discrimination, and racial inequality. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work in 1964, and assassinated in 1968, his leadership and coordination, in concert with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, (SCLC) the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, (NAACP) and an unwavering commitment to non violent protest and advocacy, was instrumental in the passage by the United States Congress, of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. So as we celebrate this three day weekend how can and will we rededicate ourselves to the work of equal opportunity, social justice, and prevailing peace for all races in our nation and throughout the world ?..........Last Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti, the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere, reportedly killed upwards of 200,000 persons and has left more than 1,000,000 people homeless. It is truly humanitarian that Americans and thirty seven other nations have immediately committed assistance to the suffering and destitute Haitians coping with the fallout from this human tragedy. Supporting reputable charities such as the Catholic Relief Services, enables all of us to make a difference for some of the suffering masses in Haiti who are now not only homeless, but in desperate need of food and water. Catholic-Christian churches in these twenty counties of Superior Northern California, and American congregations throughout the country are taking up special Haiti Earthquake collections, to help alleviate the devastating suffering. Perhaps on this MLK weekend your response to the Haitian crisis can fulfill the need to promote justice for the poor, by treating the downtrodden earthquake victims with the equality and opportunity, to meet basic needs and have a bit of inner peace amidst the havoc they are enduring..........As Christ's Disciples Asking You What Would Jesus Do ?,
Fr. Troy