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,
Our Gospel reading today is taken from St. Matthew’s Gospel in which he considers the importance of forgiveness in the community and how to deal with sinners. In today’s text we listen to Jesus: “If your brother does something wrong, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone” (Matthew 18:15). The term “brother” indicates that we are not talking about outsiders or enemies; we are talking about people in our community.
The readings remind us that we are members of a faith-filled community and therefore we are accountable to each other. Very often, we miss this. Usually we consider ourselves accountable only directly to God. Remember that we all are the Body of Christ. When we offend others or when we sin, we are sinning against the Body of Christ. Many people think that their actions have no effect upon others. They think that whatever they do is private and personal. From our faith we strongly believe that when a person sins, even in a hidden manner, his sin affects the whole Body of Christ, the community of faith.
Given so, we are accountable to our brothers’ and sisters’ actions within our community. This is not an ideal. It is a responsibility. Therefore we are called to strive to be faithful members of the Body of Christ. We come to church every Sunday to form a community of faith. We do not come to church to have fun or to simply socialize with others. We come to build up our relationship with God and with one another, and our relationship with one another should reflect the holiness and goodness of the Lord. That is what it means to be Church.
The first reading today from Ezekiel speaks about the responsibility of being watchmen for God’s people. We are indeed set as watchmen to help others to choose right over wrong. Let us first strive to be good members of the Body of Christ and then help others return to the Lord, the source of salvation.
May God bless us and bind us together into a community of Faith and Love!
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.