Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The healing of the blind man in Jericho is the final healing miracle in the Gospel of Mark. After that Jesus enters Jerusalem to fulfill his Paschal Mystery. Mark uses this incident of the restoration of the sight of Bartimaeus to stress that Jesus is truly the Messiah. That is why Mark records that Bartimaeus addresses Jesus as the Son of David, the title for the Messiah (Mark 10:46-52).
It is unusual for Mark to record the name of the man involved and the precise location of a particular healing, but he does so here. He does so because this is a turning point in the Gospel story. But why is this event so significant? Probably because of the double meaning involved Bartimaeus regaining his sight and recognizing who Jesus really is, the Son of David, the Messiah. Jesus states that it is the man’s faith that has saved him (Mark 10:52). Note the word “saved”; Jesus doesn’t say Bartimaeus is healed or that he recovers his sight. No, he is saved. And as a result he immediately followed Jesus along the road, along the way to Jerusalem, the way of suffering. Blind Bartimaeus has become a true disciple of Christ.
The blind can not go anywhere, they depend on others; in the same way those souls who are blind to the presence of the Lord can not go to the fountain of eternal life. Jesus has given us sight. We can see where we need to go. Most of all, we can see Jesus, we recognize him as our savior, and this is the Good News. This is the cause of joy for our life because it truly means that the world as we see it is not the real world. This world, in which the selfish and the greedy rise to the top, is only a superficial world. This world is passing away. To see the real world of the Lord does not require sight, it requires insight, it requires faith. This is the world that counts. This is the world in which we believe. This is the world which lasts forever. This is the world in which we can be forever with God and with one another. This is the world in which we place all our hope.
This Sunday we give thanks and praise to the Lord for the gift of Light. May we have the courage to live as children of light!
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.