New Year Renewal!

 This year I've had religion on my mind a lot. I've been watching mostly Catholic church services via YouTube primarily the services at St. Sabina in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood on the south side. 

I realize there are other Catholic churches I could follow online, however, I gravitated towards St. Sabina because aside from Cardinal Cupich, Father Michael Pfleger is the only Catholic priest of note in Chicago that I know of. And interestingly he was just reinstated to his duties at the St. Sabina Parish because he had been hit with abuse allegations which has been found to be unfounded.

Either way it's been on my mind since at least the fall and I had been looking not just at St. Sabina there is another south side Catholic church Our Lady of Africa I had been watching services there also. That is a bit more traditional compared to St. Sabina.

Now to be honest I'm not a church going man and I'm not always referring to my Bible at home often enough. Perhaps in 2023 that needs to change as I seek the one thing that never happened, I've never been baptized. I've never formally joined a church or declared my faith.

My experience with church going has largely been the Black church. I'm most familiar with the boisterousness of faith at the churches I've been to in my life. And the music, I've been to churches with not just an organist or even a choir they have a full band. I've seen people step and shout if they're feeling the service. And Christianity has developed a diversity of how people express their faith it's wonderful.

However once must find their way. I discovered this YouTube channel recently called the Black Catholic Chick and she talks about how she grew up Catholic attended Catholic schools and got away from the faith for a time. Then once she wanted to believe again she tried a "Black church" and found out that well she was more at home in a Catholic church.

Well great story, but that's not my story. My story is where would I feel at home. I suppose for rather superficial reasons I like to do things differently. Being Catholic is different, not necessarily the answer. Though I've come to recognize that quiet meditation as opposed to boisterousness is the right way to go for myself.

With that being said as we are approaching a new year on this day (tomorrow will be 2023) I think one resolution for the next year is to find my faith. Next year is a renewal in a number of ways, however, perhaps spirituality will be one renewal I will seek. So perhaps it's time to start reading and asking questions and getting the answers I need to make my own choices.

Perhaps you might be hearing the stories of a Black male convert to some denomination of Christianity.

Happy New Year! 

ALSO, forgot to note this morning I woke up to the news that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI - he resigned the papacy in 2013 - had passed away. He was said to be battling illness and the news had seemed to be pointing that he was at the end of his life sadly. In fact he was the first Pope that I had seen installed as he succeeded Pope John Paul II in 2005. And of course his current successor is the currently serving Pope Francis.