OUR CLERGY
Father Joseph Dinh
Emmanuel Ukattah, Deacon
Enedino Aquino, Deacon
Father Joseph Dinh
Emmanuel Ukattah, Deacon
Enedino Aquino, Deacon
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Last Sunday’s Gospel was the Gospel of the doubting Thomas. This Sunday’s Gospel is the Gospel of the confused Disciples. Two disciples were walking to Emmaus, a village seven miles from Jerusalem. The discussion among themselves pointed to their confusion about the identity and mission of their master Jesus. How could their powerful master be crucified on the cross? And now he has been raised from the dead? They talked. They questioned. They remained confused.
Then Jesus came walking with them. He explained the Scriptures, how the Messiah would first suffer and then enter into His glory. He ate with them. During the meal He recreated the Last Supper. He took bread, blessed it and gave it to them. And they recognized Him. Overjoyed with the light of the Risen Lord, they returned to the Apostles.
So often, we walk along the road of our lives confused. We have difficulty solving our problems. We doubt our own ability to handle our life, to come up with the answers we need. Some people told us to look into ourselves for the answers, we tried but we found nothing. We remained confused.
Looking around we can see that many people spend their lives seeking the answers to the wrong questions. Most people try to answer these earthly questions: How can I become famous and powerful? How can I become rich? Their whole lives are spent chasing the illusion that happiness can be bought. Do riches or power make a life happy? They remain confused.
As Christians, we believe that one of the most important questions people need to ask is how can I become a better person than I am? It is not the question of how can I become better than everyone else for if we want to be the best person we can be, then we may become arrogant and proud when we consider who we are in relation to other people. To become a better person in our life means to recognize who and what we are before the Lord, to do the best to fulfill our own vocation with faith and hope in the presence of the Risen Lord, to strive to become better parents, better children in our family, to become better members of a parish community, and better citizens for our society. Yes we are not confused if we are in the right direction toward the Lord.
We do need to put our trust in God and let the light of the Risen Lord shine within us, giving us the wisdom to appreciate our lives and then continue to be true witnesses to the Risen Lord.
May God bless us all!
Fr. Joe
Christ the King Church was founded in 1940 to serve the African-American Catholics in High Point, and has since become a multi-ethnic parish celebrating both the diversity and unity of the Catholic faith and tradition. Then-Bishop Eugene F. McGuinness of Raleigh invited the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement of Graymoor, NY to staff the new mission in High Point in 1940. Father Bernardine Watson served as the first pastor, originally celebrating Mass in a funeral home. Through the generosity and perseverance of Father Watson and several benefactors, a clothing shop was acquired for use by the mission. While Mass continued to be celebrated there during much of 1941, the mission community members also turned their attention to building a new church and rectory on Kivett Drive. The new colonial-style church was dedicated by Bishop McGuinness Dec. 14, 1941.
During the 1940s and into the ’50s, the Christ the King parish community continued to grow. A school building and convent were built in 1949, and in 1950 the Franciscan Handmaids arrived from New York City to staff the school. The African-American communities, both Catholic and non-Catholic, of High Point, Thomasville and Greensboro were served by the new Christ the King School, which opened its doors to 50 students in September 1950. The friars continued their pastorate in High Point for the next several decades, cultivating a faith community that became continually more culturally diverse over time. A stained-glass window behind the church’s choir loft depicts that diversity, with Jesus surrounded by four individuals representing the African, Asian, European and Indian bloodlines that make up much of the parish community today.
Lowering enrollment, financial difficulties and the recalling of the sisters to New York forced Christ the King School to close in 1981. The diocesan office of education converted the school for use as a day care center, which began its operation in August 1981. That same year, Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement arrived at Christ the King Church to conduct the religious education program and other ministerial work, including assisting at the day care center. The center, still located on parish grounds, is now privately operated and continues to serve the area.
Upon the friars’ leaving High Point in 1991, Christ the King Church became a diocesan parish in December of that year. Fathers Martin Madison and John Hoover served the parish until December 1994, when Father Philip Kollithanath, was appointed to Christ the King Church. Assisting in the advancing growth of the Christ the King community have been many commissions and ministries focusing on the spiritual , educational, multicultural and evangelical dimensions of the parish. Parishioners gather to engage in Bible study , to learn English as a Second Language, to put their faith into action in the local community and to celebrate their ethnicity. A Hispanic center and bilingual religious education program provide sharing and learning opportunities for English and Spanish speaking parishioners, and the parish African-American Ministry offers outreach programs benefiting the local region. The Women’s Guild, Altar Guild, 55+ Club and Young & Spirited Group are active in parish and community services, and the evangelization commission provides for the spiritual needs of homebound parishioners through its Visitation Ministry. The community of Christ the King Church looks ahead to expansion and renovation projects that will accommodate the needs of a growing parish. One hundred and sixty-one households currently make up the parish registry.