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 celebrate the Most Holy Trinity: Three persons in One God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This feast speaks about much more than the simple existence of God. It is about something we would never comprehend unless Jesus had revealed: three “Persons” in One God or a Trinity of Persons: the Father who eternally begets the Son, the Son (Jesus) who knows and obeys the Father. And a Third – who is the Love between Father and Son, the Holy Spirit.
Jesus makes a clear statement: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that anyone who believes in Him will have eternal life” (John 3:16). We can say that God so loved us, our family, our spouse, our children, our friends, our community of faith that he sent his only Son so that if we believe in the Son we will have eternal life. Our God is truly the God of love and we belong to this Loving God since we were baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God truly dwells within us.
We are made in the image of the Trinity. We are made for a bigger family of God. Our work is to form, protect and nourish this family. Now, this might seem obvious, but we need to remind ourselves, especially today that the Power of Love that binds us as one is itself the very Spirit of God. The unity that we enjoy, the power of God that we possess, is the Presence of God acting in our lives, the Presence of the Holy Spirit.
The celebration of the Most Holy Trinity is a celebration of the Dignity we have received by being admitted into Mystery. The Mystery is God. His Power and Love and Presence are greater than our mind’s capabilities. He possesses us, and we possess Him, not for ourselves, but to continue His Presence in the world. With the presence of the Holy Trinity in our life, we can transform the world.
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.