MLK Jr. Teaches Us There Is Nothing New Under the Sun

I was just re-reading this piece by the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus — who marched on Washington 50 years ago — on Martin Luther King Jr. After commenting on a biographer who wasn’t all that impressed with King’s preaching, Fr. Neuhaus shared:

Every preacher who has been around a while finds consolation in the promise of Isaiah that “the word shall not return void.” To preach well is success. I recall rallies when, in the course of his preaching, King would hold forth on the theological and moral foundations of the movement. The klieg lights and cameras shut down, only to be turned on again when he returned to specifically political or programmatic themes. “Watch the lights,” he commented. “They’re not interested in the most important parts.”