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) 681-4860

E-mail: stphilipapostle@bellsouth.net

Website: http://stphilipapostle.com

Rev. Fr. Thomas J. Kessler, Pastor

Mrs. Raquel Swierczewski, R.C.I.A

Mrs. Paula Coleman, Secretary

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

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

:45 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. on Saturday or by appointment. Pastoral Council Meetings are 2nd Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. September thru May 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.

3rd Sunday of Easter

Saturday, April 25th 5:00 p.m. Edgar & Angela Merrifield†† by Mary & Gary Cannady Sunday, April 26th 8:00 a.m. Mary Vaglica† by Mr. & Mrs. Mark Vaglica 10:30 a.m. Stanley Wienckowski† by Sadowski Family 12:30 p.m. Elvia Rodriguez† by Meija Family Monday, April 27th 9:00 a.m. Deacon Chuck Brantley† by Mary Ann Rhodes Wednesday, April 29th 6:00 p.m. Linda Fitzgerald† by Wednesday Bible Study Group Thursday, April 30th 9:00 a.m. Mickey Brantley by Mary Ann Rhodes & Noreen Wells Friday, May 1st 9:00 a.m. Tony Doria† by Jean Danckert Saturday, May 2nd 9:00 a.m. Joseph Slovenic† by Folliard Family 5:00 p.m. Shirley Russell† by Mary & Gary Cannady Sunday, May 3rd 8:00 a.m. Mothers of the Parish by Catholic Daughters 10:30 a.m. Dr. George & Mary Johnson†† by Chip & Fran Baker 12:30 p.m. Mr. & Mrs. G.M. Canon by Mr. & Mrs. P. Beha READERS May 2nd 5:00 p.m. To be determined May 3rd 8:00 a.m. To be determined 10:30 a.m. To be determined 12:30 p.m. Juan Carlos Medina

May 2nd 5:00 p.m. B. Myers (HM), I. Poston (HA), B. Scales (HC) May 3rd 8:00 a.m. C. DiFulvio (HM) 10:30 a.m. J. Bennett (HM), P. Daly (HA), T. Bradford (HC) 12:30 p.m. To be determined ALTAR SERVERS May 2nd 5:00 p.m. To be determined May 3rd 8:00 a.m. To be determined 10:30 a.m. To be determined 12:30 p.m. Yarely, Yoselyn

From the pastor… Happy Easter!– the celebration continues with the 3rd Sunday of Easter. In today’s gospel Cleopas, seems to be condescending, not realizing that he is speaking to Jesus himself, and says “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days…the things that hap-pened to Jesus the Nazarene…We were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel…Some women in our group reported that they had seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive.” Later after discovering that it was indeed the Lord who was in their midst, and after Jesus departed from their company, the disciples asked the question “Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us…Then the disciples recounted what had take place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” During these difficult days, when charity and the civil authorities prevent us from gathering as the Body of Christ, to receive the Lord in his Word and Sacrament – hopefully “absence will make the heart grow fonder”. As good Catholics and followers of Christ, we need to be sensitive to those who live around us. “This is my commandment: Love one another, as I have loved you”.(John 15:12) Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Mt. 19:19) At the same time we must be on guard with the civil authorities. Remember how Pilot washed his hands of the Lord, although he found nothing against Him. Read in the Gospel of Matthew, 28: 11-15 - the Tale of the Guards and the Chief Priests. Acts 4: 1-3 may also make us cautious with civil authorities. Thank God that here in Statesville, things haven’t been too bad. We read in to-day’s local paper (4/17) that there are 77 cases of the coronavirus in all of Iredell County with 3 “coronavirus-related” deaths. What do the authorities means by “related”? “The individual was at higher risk for serious illness and died from complications associ-ated with COVID-19.” Of the 77 cases, how many were hospital-ized or since have been cured? If one is sick – they should stay home. If one is exposed to the virus – they should isolate them-selves, until they can be tested. Government official have declared as “essential” the liquor stores in North Carolina, while we can’t go to Mass or get a haircut. Our church seats 650 people and yet only 10 people are legally allowed to gather for Mass. Heck, so-cial distancing wouldn’t be a problem for more people than that. One might wonder, in the last several years, around this time, how many people had the flu and/or died from it. The Government and the Media have the answer to these valid questions. As we continue to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord, let us be attentive to look for him as we journey on the way of our daily lives, always recognizing him in the “breaking of the bread.” Hopefully, deprivation of the Eucharist will make our hearts grow fonder. Spiritual Communion – When unable to receive Holy Com-munion, say the following prayer written by St. Francis of As-sisi – “I believe that You, O Jesus are present in the most Holy Sacrament. I love You and desire You. Come into my heart. I embrace You. Oh, never leave me. May the burning and most sweet power of Your love, O Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech You, absorb my mind that I may die through love of Your love, who were graciously pleased to die through love of my love.” There will not be exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament on the 1st Friday in May. As soon as possible, parishioners will be informed when we can celebrate First Holy Communion, Confirmation and the celebration of the Sacraments of Ini-tiation with the RCIA candidates. Next Sunday’s Readings (5/3) - will be from Acts 2:14, 36-41; 1 Peter 2: 20-25; John 10: 1-10. Thanks to all for your continued and generous financial support.

Happy Birthday 4/26/2020 to 5/2/020 4/26 Leah Johnson, Marta Morales, Nora Shinkaruk, 4/27 Caroline Haneline, Patri-cia Hanke, Juan Daniel Vargas, 4/28 Joey DiMillo, Conner Frye, Phyllis Hayes, Os-car Rodriguez, Lena Stein, Eugene Wells, 4/29 Briana Aguirre Garcia, Robert Blaney, Bridget Trifaro, Leslie Velazquez, 4/30 Catalina Cam-pos, Jacqueline Douglas, Micah Kershner, Alan Motor, Nancy Pauls, Jenny Suclupe, 5/2 Carol Camp, Jimmie Combs, Todd Eavenson, Kristen Frye, Alonha Pharr, Danilo Pina, Luis Serna, Ivan Tamayo, Linda Trinka, William Volk

Happy Anniversary 4/26/2020 to 5/2/2020 4/29 Mr. & Mrs. Justin Bennett, Mr. & Mrs. Darell Millsaps, Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Czupryna

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 echevar-ria_norma@yahoo.com. Faith Formation Classes will be canceled until fur-ther notice. Parents will be responsible to monitor the situation, so as to know when the classes will re-sume. Confirmation —It will be determined at a later date, whether it will be necessary to postpone First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Parents will be ad-vised. Las Clases de Formación de Fe serán canceladas hasta nuevo aviso. Los padres serán responsables de monitorear la situación, para saber cuándo se reanuda-rán las clases. La confirmación será —Se determinará en una fecha posterior, si será necesario posponer la Primera Co-munión y la Confirmación. Se avisará a los padres.

Collections as of Sunday Regular 5:00 p.m…..……...…...……..………………………..$5,198.00 8:00 a.m…………………………………………………….N/A 10:30 a.m…….….....……………………………………….N/A 12:30 p.m…………………………………………………...N/A Total………………………………………………....$5,198.00 Food Closet ……..........................................................$399.00 Forward With Christ* Total (includes pledged funds received)……………$5,427.28 Collections as of Sunday Last year This Year Regular $329,084.20..............................................$291,325.59 Food Closet $14,867.35…….....................................$13,370.85 DSA 2020 Goal………………………………….….$46,932.00 DSA Contributions & Pledges as of 4/6/20…...…..$33,528.75 Forward With Christ Phase 2 as of April 15 Phase 2 Funds Received ………………………$1,043,687.09 Phase 2 Remaining Pledges……………….……. $755,164.94 Total……………………………………..…$1,798,852.03 Thank you for returning some of God’s gifts

to you to His Church.

April 26, 2020 PARISH SUPPORT

CHURCH YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2020

Saturday, April 25th Sunday, April 26th Third Sunday of Easter Monday, April 27th Tuesday, April 28th St. Peter Chanel, Priest & Martyr, St Louis de Montfort Wednesday, April 29th St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin & Doctor of the Church Thursday, April 30th St Pius V, Pope

Friday, May 1st St Joseph the Worker First Friday Saturday, May 2nd St Athanasius, Bishop & Doctor of the Church First Saturday Sunday, May 3rd Fourth Sunday of Easter

At home...Lillian Alvey, Anna Eisele Shingleton, Jessica Allison, Jessica Crosso, Andrew Gulley, Jackie Mejia, Ange-la Moreno, Howard Stewart, Alan Eisele, Joe Stallings, Mari-on Weber, Joan Chiodo, Nelson & Dottie LaClair, Jim Car-bone, Dawn McGinn, Jack Kelley Autumn Care… Brenda Kelley, Brookdale E. Broad...Dianne Robinson.,Brookdale Peachtree Alzheimer's Care..Richard Homola, Bryan Center ...Mar ion Kelly Culler ..Journey’s Assisted Liv-ing ...Eleanor Byrnes Please pray for the intentions on Our Prayer Tree. To place a name on the Prayer Tree, please sign the Prayer Book in the Lobby .

THE WEEK AHEAD

St. Athanasius quotes: “Jesus became what we are that He might make us what He is.” “You cannot put straight in others what is warped in yourself.” “Even on the cross He did not hide himself from sight; rather, He made all creation witness to the presence of its Maker.”

St. Catherine of Siena quotes: “Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear.” “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.” “The soul is in God and God is in the soul. God is closer to us than water is to a fish.”