Highlights of Juneteenth Day Mass with Archbishop Grob
Submitted by Joan Plumley
Our partner parish, St. Martin de Porres, hosted the Mass. Archbishop Grob’s opening remarks stated that Juneteenth Day is a National Independence Day, a federal holiday. It is the commemoration of the end of slavery. While recognizing this holiday, Archbishop Grob expressed the ongoing struggle for racial justice. He said Milwaukee has a long history (54 years) of celebrating Juneteenth Day and that we are to be renewed, and not grow weary.
The Gospel that day, Matt 6:7-15, is Matthew’s account of Jesus teaching the apostles to pray the Lord’s Prayer. He told a very touching, true story of a grandmother who reflected on the ways she had used her hands throughout her life: they held her husband as he went off to war, buried her parents, cuddled her grandkids, and always lifted them up in prayer.
He closed by saying, “May we never grow weary of putting our hands together in prayer.” Let us continue to pray and work for racial justice.