Community reminded of Martin Luther King Jr.'s work at IHM celebration

Staff, Sisters and residents of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Motherhouse gathered Monday in the Maxis Community Room of the Motherhouse for a prayer service in celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The afternoon was filled with singing and reflection on the slain civil rights leader's inspirational message.

Pastor Heather Boone from Oaks of Righteousness was the featured speaker. She reminded those in attendance that the work King helped begin is incomplete.

Boone reminds us that our prayer is in our actions, not our thoughts. Our work is to meet people where they are and not turn them away.

Boone, who shares a birthday with King, told us his birth year was 1929. She observed that two other notable people also were born in 1929, Anne Frank and Barbara Walters.

“We are called to love our neighbor as we love ourselves,” Boone quoted from Scripture.

She asked attendees if Anne Frank and King had experienced being loved as the neighbor/self, would the two have lived with the longevity that journalist Barbara Walters had? Walters recently died at the age of 93.

“What would the world look like had Anne and Dr. King enjoyed that longevity?” Boone asked. “They were taken from the world for nothing more than religious and racial differences.”

Attendees were reminded that King was not always thought of in a positive light during his lifetime. Some considered him a troublemaker or radical. It is only now, in hindsight, that we see how much positive change he set in motion, and we are grateful for that change.

To turn their prayers into action, the IHM Community has formed teams that will provide meals at the Oaks of Righteousness Warming Shelter in Monroe for the six days after the prayer service.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Community reminded of Martin Luther King Jr.'s work at IHM celebration