January 15, 2024, Holy Rosary (Joyful Mysteries)

Friends of the Rosary: We pray for the end of racism and discrimination. Today in the U.S., on the third Monday in January, is the federal holiday of civil rights leader Luther King Jr Day. It honors the life and legacy of this iconic figure of the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s. King’s fight against discrimination and segregation changed American history and gave hope to millions for a future of equality. His March on Washington, on August 28, 1963, and his “I Have a Dream” speech was an inspiring moment. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr stated, “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” King’s call for racial equality is echoed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. “Created in the image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity.”  (CCC 1934). As St. Augustine wrote, “An unjust law is no law at all,” while St. Thomas Aquinas stated, "An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust." In U.S. tradition, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is honored along with another non-Catholic Abraham Lincoln, and two Catholics, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. Ave Maria!Jesus, I Trust In You! To Jesus through Mary! + Mikel A. | RosaryNetwork.com, New York • ⁠January 15, 2024, Today’s Rosary on YouTube | Daily broadcast at 7:30 pm ET