Church of St. Philip the Apostle est. 1898 Diocese of Charlotte

P.O. Box 882 525 Camden Drive

Statesville, North Carolina 28677

Office/Fax Phone (704) 872-2579 Rectory Phone (704) 380-3476

E-mail: stphilipapostle@bellsouth.net

Website: http://stphilipapostle.com

Rev. Fr. Thomas J. Kessler, Pastor

Rev. Mr. Charles Brantley, Deacon Mrs. Regina McCollum, Secretary

Mr. & Mrs. Jim Kermes, Food Closet

Mrs. Mary Brown, Faith Formation Director Mrs. Norma Echevarria, Faith Formation

Mrs. Raquel Swierczewski, R.C.I.A Mr. Ken Parker, Y outh Director

Marriage - Baptism Call the church office. Marriages, call at least 6 months in advance. Reconciliation

Pastoral Council Meetings are 2nd Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. September thru June except National Holidays.

Religious Education Children, grades 1-Confirmation, are required to attend religious education classes. Call the office to register your children. Adult classes also available. Parish Registration We welcome new parishioners to the parish and we ask them to register as soon as possible. Parish registration is important and necessary. Also, if you move away from the Parish please notify the office. Thank you.

Come and See

from the pastor…

The 3rd Sunday of Easter – Paper or Plastic? We live in a wor ld of so many choices. This is evident in the world of fast food restaurants chains. It’s the same with the many choices we have with convenience stores. Almost twenty years ago a young man was ordained a priest in Charlotte. He spent one year serving in a parish and then left the priest-hood. He took a job in a convenience store. Imagine, he use to say to parishioners “The Word of the Lord”, “The Body of Christ”, “The Blood of Christ”, then as a cashier, he exchanged those words, for “paper or plastic?” which he would say to his customers as he bagged their pur-chases. What a contrast! In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we see the commit-ment the Apostles made to follow the Lord Jesus. That was their choice and it cost them. The powers that be, dragged them before the Sanhedrin and said we prohibit you from speaking about Jesus, and yet…Their response was “we’ve got to obey God before man..” The closing line of this reading says “They left rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” What is our commitment to Jesus? In our world of choices, what will we choose? Let’s follow the example of the Apostles and follow the Lord. We too must obey God and his commandments and teach our children to do the same. When we allow our children to skip the Lord’s Day Mass for a job at a fast food restaurant or to play soccer, etc. we are teaching them to exchange the Word of the Lord, the Body and Blood of Christ for – “Paper or plastic?” Next weekend we will celebrate the 4th Sunday of Easter . The read-ings at Mass will be taken from Acts 13:14, 43-52, Revelation 7:9, 14-17, John 10:27-30. Come prepared. The Flowers this weekend are donated in honor of Lindsay Stoffer and Matthew Smith who were married here at St. Philip’s on Saturday, April 9th. Matthew is a life-long parishioner of our parish and is the son of Peter & Lucy Smith. Lindsay is the daughter of Richard & Allison Stoffer. May God grant Mr. & Mrs. Matthew many happy and healthy years together. The Easter Egg Hunt – was held way back on Palm Sunday. Even though the weather wasn’t that great, the Easter Egg hunt was great. We thank Mary Brown, Norma Echevarria, The Family Life Committee and all who worked the event, donated candy, cooked hot dogs, cleaned up, etc. to make this a fun-filled experience for our children and God’s chil-dren. The Parish Council will meet this Monday evening at 7 p.m. in the K of C Room. St. Philip’s Graduates – St. Philip’s Family Life Committee and Parish would like to recognize this year’s Post graduate degrees, College, High School and Middle School graduates. We’d like to recognize their achievements at the weekend Masses on May 21st & 22nd. If you know someone from our parish who is graduating this spring please call Ann Simons a.s.a.p. at 704-871-1074 and leave the graduate’s name, phone number, graduate level and school name. This way we’ll be able to add them to our list and honor them as well. The 50 Plus Club plans to meet in our Social Hall at noon on Thurs-day, April 14th. The speaker will be our very own Steve Reber. Steve and his wife Judy are parishioners of our parish. Steve will speak about his passed experience as a Bishop in the Anglican Church. We ask those who plan to attend to bring a soup or salad to share. Please call Marilyn Armlin at 704-873-5123 with what you plan to bring. All are welcome. Diocesan Support Appeal. Our assessment/goal this year is $47,107. Congratulations we have met our goal in donations and pledges. We will get you the numbers soon. Do it for the Lord. You may make pledges or gifts using the envelopes you received in the mail or those on the tables at the entrance/exit of the church. You can also make pledges online at www.charlottediocese.org/dsa. Please be sure to indicate the name of our parish in the comments section of the online form. Thanks so much for your sacrificial generosity

Saturday, Apr 9th 5:00 pm Louise Quinn † by M/M Henry Hall Sunday, Apr 10th 8:00 am Jacy Enochs † by Betsy Enochs 10:30 am All people w/Alzheimer's Disease by CDA 12:30 pm Fr. Thomas Kessler by Liturgy Committee

Monday, Apr 11th 9:00 am Lou & Edna Arno † by Maryann Rhodes Wednesday, Apr 13th 6:00 pm Leo, Mary & Noreen Harris † Carol Micalizzi Thursday, Apr 14th 9:00 am Tom Baldwin † by Maryann Rhodes Friday, Apr 15th 9:00 am Rodrick Cook † by Herman Pekarek Saturday, Apr 16th 5:00 pm Pat Angelino & Frank Arno † by Maryann Rhodes Sunday, Apr 17th 8:00 am Timothy Rutten † by Papandrea Family 10:30 am John & Josephine Ortiz † by Linda Ortiz 12:30 pm Thanksgiving of the 16 years of life for Guadalupe Jesus Martinez by the Parents READERS Apr 16 5:00 p.m. Mike Hoffman Apr 17 8:00 a.m. Stan Spice 10:30 a.m. Ken Byers EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS OF HOLY COMMUNION Apr 16 5:00 p.m. M. Rhodes (H), R. Reed, T. Reed, C. Ries, B. Scales Apr 17 8:00 a.m. B. Papandrea (H), S. Staples, P. Klvana 10:30 a.m. S. Soltysiak (HM), B. Stickle (HA), J. Eisele (HC), A. Sadowski, J. Sadowski, C. Bennett, J. Bennett ALTAR SERVER Apr 16 5:00 p.m. Beni Juarez, Patrick Ferguson Apr 17 8:00 a.m. Evie Staples, Paul Calderone 10:30 a.m. Jacob Freese, Brianna Freese Happy Birthday 4/10/2016– 4/16/2016 4/10 Irving, Avila, Jr., Yolanda Carlos, Lindsey Mehall 4/11 Mark Pauls, Juliana Pellegrino 4/12 Gloria Fierros. Margie Mejia Clontz 4/13 Chris Cox, Christopher Cox, Wade Kates, Ken Kindley, Herman Pekarek, Yusbeli Santibanez, Evelyn Staples 4/14 Paul Beha, Helena Gela, John Green, Giancarlo Pellegrino, Shane Stickle 4/15 Charles Culler, Giselle Gusman Robles, Henry Hall, Italia Martinez, Ruth Wells 4/16 Chryste-inne Herboso, Adilene Serrano, Zoey Woldman Happy Anniversary 4/10/2016—4/16/2016 4/10 Emmanuel & Martha Gonzales 4/11 James & Patricia Reilly 4/12 Gary & Monica Cook 4/15 Teodoro & Amelia Vera 4/16 James & Patricia Marcella

Mrs. Mary Brown: If you need to contact Mrs. Brown, Faith Formation Director, please call or text 704-929-0152 or email her at faithformationdir@att.net or if you need to contact Mrs. Norma Echevarria please call the office at 704-872-2579 or email her at echevarria_norma@yahoo.com. There will be a mandatory parent meeting for parents of the First Communion students in the English Sunday and Wednesday classes at 7:00 on Wednesday, April 13th at 9:30 or on Sunday, April 17. Parents must attend one meeting. There will be a VBS planning meeting on Monday, April 25th at 7:00 pm The First Communion Mass for the English classes will be Sunday, May 1st at the 10:30 am Mass and for Spanish classes at the 12:30 pm Mass.

Confirmation will be Friday, May 13th at 6:30 pm in the evening. Bishop Jugis will be celebrating the Confirmation Mass. Students need to be at the church by 4:30 p.m. with their sponsors. Any questions please call Mary Brown. Mark your calendars: Vacation Bible School will be Monday, June 20th-Thursday June 23rd from 6-8 p.m. The theme will be the Year of Mercy celebrated through international saints. Snacks and dinner will be provided. Additionally, there will be crafts, music, games and lessons. VBS will conclude with water games and cake! Volunteers will be needed to plan, teach, provide music crafts, etc. VBS is open to all children 4-12 years of age. Children outside of St. Philip’s are welcomed too! Registration forms for the 2016/2017 Faith Formation year are now available in the Faith Formation office. Forms need to be completed by July 1st to avoid a late fee. Please contact Mary or Norma with any questions.

Collections last week Regular 5:00 p.m….…………………………….…………...…$2,840.00 8:00 a.m…..…………………………………….………1,024.00 10:30 a.m…………………...……………………………2,149.00 12:30 p.m…...…………………………………….………..748.75 Total……..…………...……………………………….$6,761.75 Parish Improvement Total……..…...…………...…………………………...$1,331.00 Food Closet Total...…..……...……......……….….....………………...$50.00 Seminary & Priest Continuing Education Total…………………………………………...………$135.00

Collections Year to Date Last year This Year Regular $337,557.05…...….….….........$327,233.23 Parish Improvements 16,179.52………...…...……...35,247.61 Food Closet 17,225.33...….…..……...……15,286.00

Thank you for returning some of God’s gift to you to His Church.

Third Sunday of Easter April 10, 2016

PARISH SUPPORT CHURCH YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2016

Sunday, Apr 10th 9:00 am Faith Formation 11:00 am Faith Formation / Spanish Monday, Apr 11th 9:30 am Rosary 7:00 pm Parish Council meeting Wednesday, Apr 13th 11:15 am Bible Study (Knights of Columbus Room) 6:30 pm Faith Formation 6:45 pm RCIA 7:00 pm Parent Meeting for First Communion Parents Thursday, Apr 14th 12:00 pm 50 Plus Club luncheon 6:30 pm Youth Group 7:00 pm Knights of Columbus and Catholic Daughters mtgs Sunday, Apr 17th 9:00 am Faith Formation 9:30 am Parent Meeting for First Communion Parents 11:00 am Faith Formation / Spanish

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Family Life Book group will gather in Apr il on Wednesday, April 27th at 7p.m. The book will be “Somebody Else’s Daughter”. The May gathering will be Wednesday, May 25th at 7 p.m. and the book will be “Water for Ele-phant’s”. Please call Norma Gassett @ 704-380-4125 for meeting location. The Catholic Daughters will be doing their sewing project on Tuesday, April 19th from 9-12pm. Bring your sewing ma-chine and fabric to help make pillow cases for local organiza-tions. Any question contact Becky Scales at 704-872-3469. At home.. Lillian Alvey, Paul and Ber tha Summerville, Bill Parker, Betty Brostowski, Anna Eisele, Shingleton, Re-becca Eisele, David Eisele, Jessica Allison, Jessica Crosso, Andrew Gulley, Jackie Mejia, Angela Moreno, Loretta Sav-age, Howard Stewart, Rick Stoup, Robinette Tilley, Alan Eisele, Lisa Jordan Brookdale Peachtree.-Arthur & Marion Weber, Statesville Manor - Brenda Kelley. The Gardens- An-na Pettit. Please pray for the intentions on Our Prayer Tree. To place a name on the Prayer Tree, please sign the Pray-er Book in the Lobby or e-mail; Jean Danckert - danckert5851@roadrunner.com.

The 50 Plus Club will be having their next meeting on Thursday, April 14th at 12 p.m. We will be serving soups and salads. Please call Marilyn at 704-873-5123 with your reser-vation and what you will be bringing. Our featured speaker will be Steve Reber who will be telling us about his life as an Archbishop of the Anglican Church.