HOUSTON — Civil rights activist and minister Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his call to achieve peace through service to one another will be celebrated with a “Mass of Remembrance” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 14, at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1111 St. Joseph Parkway.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner was assassinated 56 years ago in 1968 at the age of 39 but made astounding societal changes in his short life.
Daniel Cardinal DiNardo will preside the Eucharist and Father Martins C. Emeh, J.C.L., pastor of St. Monica parish, will deliver the homily. Following the mass, a reception will be held in the Cathedral Centre for everybody to attend.
Father Emeh was born and raised in Nigeria and emigrated to the United States in January 1998. He completed his seminary formation in theological studies at Mount St. Mary’s University & Seminary, Emmitsburg, Maryland, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rockford on May 18, 2002. In 2005, he obtained a Licentiate degree (J.C.L.) in Canon Law from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Father Emeh moved to Houston in July 2016 to be closer to his family in Pearland. He served for four years at Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church in Katy, and at St. Theresa in Sugar Land before being appointed pastor of St. Monica in Acres Homes in 2021.
Hundreds of people usually attend the Archdiocesan Mass every year commemorating Dr. King’s Jan. 15th birthday and the federal holiday in his honor that falls on the third Monday in January.