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,
This Sunday we listen to the parable of the prodigal son. I think that most of us could recite this parable almost word for word. When we think about this parable, usually our first focus should be the offending son, that is why we call this parable the parable of the Prodigal Son. Yes, the younger son was a real selfish person. He demanded his portion of the property and sold it. To the ancient Jews, property was sacred because God has given the Promised Land to Israel. When selling the property, the prodigal son has insulted his God, his father, and his whole family.
Our second focus is on the forgiving father. It is the picture of the father, every day, looking out across the fields, longing and waiting for his son to return. In the parable, out of love and mercy, the father has prepared for the return of his son. When the lost son returned, he welcomed the son with love, joy and forgiveness.
This Sunday we shift our focus to the third character of the story, the elder son. The elder son has seen the preparations of the father for the return of his brother, he has recognized his father’s love and forgiveness for his brother, and he knew that one day, his brother would return, and that he did not want to. He harbored harsh feelings in himself because he was unable to forgive his younger brother.
Back to the story, when the elder son refused to enter the house, the father said to him: “My son, you are here with me, everything I have is yours.” By saying this, the father tried to say to the elder son: “look, you have everything here. You can slaughter any goat or calf from the flocks, because they are yours.” Yes, the elder son was living in the midst of his riches, his possessions, but he still felt poor because he had closed his heart. He did not want to share with the father’s mercy and love. He was unable to forgive his brother.
Jesus used this parable in order to point to the hardness of heart of the Pharisees and scribes. They were, like the elder son, unable to forgive others because they always looked down and disregarded those whom they considered as sinners. They refused to encounter with them.
Saint Luke ends this story with the saying of the father to the elder son: “But we have to celebrate because your brother was dead, but now he is alive, he was lost, but now he has been found.” We don’t know what happened afterwards. Saint Luke did not say anything. Did the elder son listen to the father and enter the house? Did the elder son learn a lesson of forgiveness from the father and forgave his brother? Perhaps, Saint Luke wants each of us to answer for ourselves. If I am the elder son, what should I do? If I am the elder son, should I listen to the father and forgive my brother. If I am the elder son, will I enter the house to share the joy and happiness with the father?
Lent is a time for forgiveness and reconciliation. If God is always able to forgive us, why do we find it difficult to forgive others? This holy season is a time for us to learn the mercy and forgiveness of God so that we have the courage to be reconciled with God and with one another.
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.