John Buchert ’18 shared his experience about participating in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day On, Not Off of Service sponsored by the Archdiocesan Office of Black Catholic Ministries.
The MLK Day On, Not Off is a great opportunity for all high school students in the New Orleans area to serve the community. I, myself, have attended the day of service in my freshman, sophomore, and junior year. The experience brings together people from all backgrounds around the entire city. This day truly exemplifies Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream: of people of different race and ethnic backgrounds working together to achieve a common goal of unity and oneness. I drew closer to some of my other friends who attended the day with me, and also met new, interesting people who had similar views of wanting to serve others.
This year, 26 other Brother Martin Crusaders and I traveled to the Chalmette National Cemetery to do our part in the community and city. Our tasks included cleaning and straightening gravestones as well as raking leaves. Overall, our job was to honor the dead by giving their resting places a newfound respect. One thing which impacted me was the immensity of death around us. It seemed as though there were miles and miles of graves, all a result of selfish reasons that could have been avoided. My brain could just not comprehend how in such a short span of time, thousands of people can just be gone from the face of the earth. Martin Luther King, Jr. did an astounding job at starting a movement to rid the planet of hate. However, his vision is not even close to coming to fruition. Through today’s young generation, we can work hard to make the future a better place where everyone is equal.
Shared Reflection submitted by John Buchert ’18
