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 is Gaudete Sunday-the third Sunday of Advent-to rejoice for the Lord is coming. In the gospel, people came to John the Baptist asking: “What should we do? He said to them in reply: “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise” (Luke 3:10-11). To tax collectors he said: “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” To soldiers he said: “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with our wages” (Luke 3:12-14). John encouraged them to change their life, to live a life of service and charity for the Savor was coming to them.
Two thousand years later, Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador preached the same message. The Church says to the rich: “Do not sin by misusing your money. It says to the powerful: Do not misuse your political influence. Do not misuse your weaponry. Do not misuse your power.” To the poor, Archbishop Romero was a voice for those who have no voice, to the powerful and rich, he was a communist, an enemy to the state and they tried to silence him. Without fear he said to them: “We have never preached violence, except the violence of love which left Jesus nailed to the cross.”
In one Advent season Archbishop Romero said: “Advent should admonish us to discover in each brother or sister that we greet, in each friend whose hand we shake, in each beggar who asks for bread, in each worker who wants to use the right to join a union, in each peasant who looks for work in the coffee groves, the face of Christ. Then it would not be possible to rob them, to cheat them, to deny them their rights. They are Christ, and whatever is done to them Christ will take as done to him. This is what Advent is: Christ is living among us.”
That is the Good News we share with our family and friends this season, the Word Made Flesh, the Lord has become a human person like us so that all flesh can see God’s salvation. We are able to see Christ is living among us because God is willing to share our humanity. This Sunday encourages us to live in charity, to reach out to the needs of others. God is calling us to bear the fruits of charity and love in order to be ready for the coming of the Lord. We don’t know what the future will bring. But we are not afraid of the unknown. What we know here is that we do have the greatest of all gifts. We have Jesus Christ, we possess the Lord. With Jesus, nothing else would matter in our life.
So, let us rejoice in the coming of the Lord!
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.