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,
The story of the Woman at the well in the Gospel of this Sunday is incredibly rich and full of meaning. Through the conversation with Jesus, we can see that the Samaritan woman was quite intelligent; however her life was different and difficult. She had gone through five husbands and now was living with a man out of wedlock. No one respected her. She didn’t respect herself either. She was empty. Internally and spiritually, she was thirsty. She was longing for something that quenched her thirst.
At the well, Jesus revealed himself to the woman:” Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). These are the words she needed to hear. Jesus told her that she would remain dry and empty unless she accepted Jesus as the Messiah, confronted her past and changed her life. She responded to the calling of the Lord. She was transformed. Her thirst was quenched since she found the Living Water in Jesus.
This Season of Lent is a time for us to meet Jesus at the well of our life so that our thirst for truth, for salvation, for eternal life would be satisfied by the Living Water. We understand the Living Water in the Gospel of John as the Water of Baptism; but we can think of all kinds of Living Water in our life—the Living Water of the Scriptures, the Living Water of Prayer, the Living Water of Worship, the Living Water of our Christian Fellowship, the Living Water of service and so on.
Lent is a time for us to experience the gift of salvation, a touch of heaven, a glimpse of the resurrection in the life to come if we take this time seriously to be united with Jesus in our daily prayers, in listening to the Word, in receiving the Sacraments to nourish our souls. Lent is also a time for us to come with a conviction that only in Jesus, the Living Water, the Bread of life we can fulfill our life. Let us joyfully journey with the Lord Jesus from sacrifice towards glory for if we die with Him then we shall rise with Him.
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.