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…

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time “Hey” is a common greeting here in the South. In other parts, people greet each other with “Good Morning” or “How ya doing?” In the Cen-tral American Country of Costa Rica (meaning rich coast) a common greeting is “Pura Vida” which means “pure life”. In today’s readings, once again, we have the struggle between good and evil, which is both a personal and universal theme. The Book of Jeremi-ah portrays a nation in crisis, a nation which has lapsed back into idola-try and the like. Jeremiah came up against strong opposition when he tried to wake the people up to their impending doom. Then came the Babylonian exile and Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 B.C. The beginning of today’s 1st reading says “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you.” The prophet ends today’s reading with “They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” The 2nd reading focuses on the three Theological Virtues, Faith, Hope and Love. The greatest of these is love. We can have everything and if we don’t have love, we are nothing. If we don’t have love, we don’t have Christ Jesus, our Lord. In today’s Gospel, we see the people going after Jesus himself. But God who is love, survives and slips right through their hands. Even with the crucifixion, Jesus rises from the dead. Love triumphs. Along with Jeremiah, we should be reassured by God’s word today. In the very end, we are guaranteed eternal life, which truly is Pura Vida. Next Sunday we’ll celebrate the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The readings at Mass will be taken from Isaiah 6: 1-8; 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11, Luke 5: 1-11. It’s good to read ahead. The regular daily Mass schedule will resume this week. Monday, Thursday, & Friday Mass is at 9 a.m. and Wednesday evening, Mass will be at 6 p.m.

This Wednesday is the Feast of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr. Has is the tradition, we will have the Blessing of Throats after the closing prayer at the 6 p.m. Mass. All are welcome to attend the Mass and have their throats blessed. The Parish Finance Council will meet this Thursday at 7 p.m. I pray that all members will be able to attend this quarterly meeting. February 5th is the First Friday of the Month. Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament will take place immediately following the 9 a.m. Mass, with reposition at 5 p.m. The last time we had exposition was Friday, December 4th and unfortunately someone didn’t show-up in the afternoon for their hour of adoration and the Blessed Sacrament was left unattended. This can’t happen and this occurrence threatens the continuation of this devotion. “Jesus said to Peter, so you could not stay awake with me for even an hour?” (Mt. 26:40) February 6th is the First Saturday of the Month. The Rosary will prayed at 8:40 a.m., followed by the 9 a.m. Mass. All are invited to pray with us. A reminder – the Rosary is prayed every Monday, immediately fol-lowing the 9 a.m. Mass. A special thank you to Milton Bland and Phil Ar r ington from Ar-rington Grading for helping to clear the parking lot and Scott Brown for shoveling the sidewalks during the snow storm last weekend. “Whatsoever you do for the least of your brethren, that you do unto me” - is the theme of the Diocesan Support Appeal of 2016. First, thanks so much for those of you who were so generous to help us meet last year’s goal/assessment. Your support is so very much appreci-ated. Next weekend we will show Bishop Peter J. Jugis’ message and this year’s video. We can only hope and pray that you will be just as generous and supportive this year. Our goal/assessment this year is $47,107.00.

Saturday, Jan 30th 5:00 pm Al Upton † by M/M Herman Pekarek Sunday, Jan 31st 8:00 am Edwin Savage † by M/M Jack Kelley 10:30 am Patricia Rapiey † by Dianne Robinson 12:30 pm For all the souls of purgatory † by Zepeta Family

Monday, Feb 1st 9:00 am Mary Ellen McGrath † by M/M Jack Kelley Wednesday, Feb 3rd 6:00 pm Conception Ozaeta † by Echevarria Family Thursday, Feb 4th 9:00 am Tommy Baldwin † by Maryann Rhodes Friday, Feb 5th 9:00 am Antonio Cabellero † by M/M Jack Kelley Saturday, Feb 6th 9:00 am John Sweeney † by M/M Stan Jashinski 5:00 pm Ena Charles † by Monica Charles Sunday, Feb 7th 8:00 am Leo Alvey † by M/M Jack Kelley 10:30 am Patricia Rapiey † by M/M Stan Rapiey 12:30 pm Concepcion Ozaeta † by Ozaeta Family READERS Feb 6 5:00 p.m. Mike Hoffman Feb 7 8:00 a.m. Annie McGuire 10:30 a.m. Ken Byers EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS OF HOLY COMMUNION Feb 6 5:00 p.m. S. Bauer (H), P. Daly, A. Eisele, B. McGinn, H. Bauer Feb 7 8:00 a.m. C. Difulvio (H), N & R Echevarria 10:30 a.m. J. Phillips (HM), J. Rafoals (HA), J. Rapiey (HC), S. Rapiey, A. Sadowski, J. Sadowski, S. Soltysiak ALTAR SERVER Feb 6 5:00 p.m. Kailey Lund, Daniel Gonzalez Feb 7 8:00 a.m. Charles Kelley, Paul Calderone 10:30 a.m. Savannah Warren, Lizzie Moore

Happy Birthday 2/1/2016– 2/6/2016 2/1 Audrey Bollero, Garrett Combs, Maria Gomez Torres, Walter McGinn, Fred Myers, Joseph Reagan 2/2 Brayden Di-Gangi, Cecilia Lopez Aguilar, Edner Same, Sean Waiwaiole 2/3 Jason Edwards, Carol Kryssing, Rebecca Soltysiak, Victor Vargas 2/4 Mary Ann Dietrich 2/5 Caleb Carpenter, Gerson Garzon, Cynthia Madson, Jesus Rivera, Richard Wood 2/6 Arianna Almanzar, Jennifer Feijoo, Anthony Ferguson, Francis-ca Garcia, Victor Reyes, Francisca Vargas

Happy Anniversary 2/1/2016-2/6/2016 2/3 Ramiro & Rosalinda Mendez Gonzalez

Mrs. Mary Brown: If you need to contact Mrs. Brown, Faith For-mation 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. The Confirmation Retreat for all 2nd year Confirmation candidates will be Friday, Feb 12th at 5:00 pm—Saturday, Feb 13th at 6:00 pm following Mass. The retreat is mandatory for all candidates wishing to make their confirmation at St. Philip The Apostle this spring. 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 ques-tions please call Mary Brown. First Reconciliation for First Communion candidates will be on Saturday, March 12th at 10:00 am. First Reconciliation is manda-tory for all children who wish to receive First Communion on May 1st. The First Communion Mass for the English classes will be Sun-day, May 1st at the 10:30 am Mass and for Spanish classes at the 12:30 pm Mass. There will be no Faith Formation Wednesday, February 10th as it is Ash Wednesday. 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. Please consider volunteering for VBS. VBS is open to all children 4-12 years of age. Children from outside of St. Philip’s are welcomed too!

Collections last week Regular 5:00 p.m….…………………………….……….……..$1,513.00 8:00 a.m…...…………………………………….…………….00 10:30 a.m…………………...……………………………1,065.00 12:30 p.m…...…………………………………….………. 408.75 Total……..…………...………………………….……$2,986.75 Parish Improvement Total……..…...…………...………………………………$25.00 Food Closet Total...…..……………......……….……...………………..$5.00 Combined Mission Collection Total…………………………………………………….$150.00

Collections Year to Date Last year This Year Regular $253,227.49…...….…….........$241,209.08 Parish Improvements 11,740.00………...…...……...29,571.61 Food Closet 13,137.00...….…..……...……11,439.50

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

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time January 31, 2016

PARISH SUPPORT CHURCH YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2016

Sunday, Jan 31st 9:00 am Faith Formation 11:00 am Faith Formation / Spanish-Parent Meeting Monday, Feb 1st 9:00 am Rosary 6:30 pm Bible Study (CDA room) Wednesday, Feb 3rd 11:15 am No Bible Study (Knights of Columbus Room) 6:30 pm Faith Formation 6:45 pm RCIA Thursday, Feb 4th 6:30 pm Youth Group 7:00 pm Choir practice 7:00 pm Finance Council Meeting Saturday, Feb 6th 8:40 am Rosary 10:30 am Baptisms 6:00 pm Family Life Social Sunday, Feb 7th 9:00 am Faith Formation/ Family Life Social 11:00 am Faith Formation / Spanish 11:30 am Family Life Social

THE WEEK AHEAD

Friday Soup and Substance star ts Friday, February 12th. Soup, bread and salad sign-ups will be on the door of the kitchen. The Knights of Columbus fish fry is scheduled for February 19th. Check the bulletin for more information. The next Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends are Feb 5-7, 2016 in Asheville, NC and April 29-May1, 2016 in Chap-el Hill, NC Early sign up is highly recommended. For more information visit http://NCMarriageDiscovery.org or contact us at 704-315-2144. At home.. Lillian Alvey, Paul and Ber tha Summerville, Bill Parker, Betty Brostowski, Anna Eisele Shingleton, Rebecca Eisele, Jessica Allison, Jessica Crosso, Jim Ferron, Andrew Gulley, Jackie Mejia, Angela Moreno, Loretta Savage, How-ard Stewart, Rick Stoup, Robinette Tilley, Brookdale Peachtree.-Arthur & Marion Weber, Statesville Manor - Brenda Kelley. The Gardens- Anna Pettit. 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 or e-mail; Jean Danckert - danckert5851@roadrunner.com.