Uncommon and powerful love, peace and joy | Excerpts from 8 March 2020 | Saint Sabina - Chicago
- 4 years ago
Witness positively changed people who care for others! This is one of the most powerful and vital Christian and Catholic ministries in the United States of America. This video opens with brief excerpts from a Saint Sabina promotional video completed years ago and is followed by excerpts from the last Sunday Mass before the shutdown of the majority of the U.S.A. in March 2020.
Saint Sabina Catholic Church is a self-sufficient church despite the challenges of operating numerous ministries and maintaining superstructure buildings in the south side of Chicago, Illinois. There are approximately 200 full and part-time staff members who work joyously for the Lord Jesus Christ in what is called The Faith Community of Saint Sabina. The Faith Community is led by 71-year old senior pastor Reverend Dr. [Father] Michael Louis Pfleger.
A German-American from the south side of Chicago, Father Pfleger was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago on May 14, 1975. In 1981, at the age of 31, he became the youngest full-time pastor in the archdiocese when he was appointed Pastor of Saint Sabina Church at 1210 West 78th Place. Though he was threatened with being removed from the pastorate by Cardinal John Patrick Cody, in 1981, he proceeded to adopt Lamar, an 8-year old boy. In 1992, Father Pfleger also became the adoptive father of Beronti Simms. In 1997, he became foster father to Jarvis Franklin. On May 30, 1998, Jarvis was tragically killed as a result of gang crossfire, and Beronti died in 2012 after surgery as a result of an illness.
His uninterrupted pastorate in just one Catholic church is very rare in the United States of America. In the course of his extensive ministry, Father Pfleger has sought to break down the walls of racism and denominationalism by building unity among all people founded on truth and based on Jesus’ command to love one another. This holy calling has led him to be parent, a preacher, a teacher, a lecturer and an activist. However, he believes his most important role is an errand boy for Jesus Christ! Father Pfleger is the founder of the Employment Resource Center, the Ark Youth Center, Saint Sabina Social Service Center, Thea Bowman Spiritual Advance Center, Samaritan House for the homeless, Saint Sabina 80-unit Elders Village and the Beloved Community, Inc.
He developed a program called "Operation Empowerment" that trained Saint Sabina members to inspect neighborhood stores for poor conditions. He also developed a team of church members who, rather than have the prostitutes arrested, went out and paid prostitutes for their time so they could talk about how they could turn their lives around.
Father Pfleger has campaigned against the sale of drug paraphernalia, billboards that target children with alcohol and tobacco advertising and saturate communities of color, negative music that glorifies violence and degrades women, the violence and disrespect of women on The Jerry Springer Show...
Saint Sabina Catholic Church is a self-sufficient church despite the challenges of operating numerous ministries and maintaining superstructure buildings in the south side of Chicago, Illinois. There are approximately 200 full and part-time staff members who work joyously for the Lord Jesus Christ in what is called The Faith Community of Saint Sabina. The Faith Community is led by 71-year old senior pastor Reverend Dr. [Father] Michael Louis Pfleger.
A German-American from the south side of Chicago, Father Pfleger was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago on May 14, 1975. In 1981, at the age of 31, he became the youngest full-time pastor in the archdiocese when he was appointed Pastor of Saint Sabina Church at 1210 West 78th Place. Though he was threatened with being removed from the pastorate by Cardinal John Patrick Cody, in 1981, he proceeded to adopt Lamar, an 8-year old boy. In 1992, Father Pfleger also became the adoptive father of Beronti Simms. In 1997, he became foster father to Jarvis Franklin. On May 30, 1998, Jarvis was tragically killed as a result of gang crossfire, and Beronti died in 2012 after surgery as a result of an illness.
His uninterrupted pastorate in just one Catholic church is very rare in the United States of America. In the course of his extensive ministry, Father Pfleger has sought to break down the walls of racism and denominationalism by building unity among all people founded on truth and based on Jesus’ command to love one another. This holy calling has led him to be parent, a preacher, a teacher, a lecturer and an activist. However, he believes his most important role is an errand boy for Jesus Christ! Father Pfleger is the founder of the Employment Resource Center, the Ark Youth Center, Saint Sabina Social Service Center, Thea Bowman Spiritual Advance Center, Samaritan House for the homeless, Saint Sabina 80-unit Elders Village and the Beloved Community, Inc.
He developed a program called "Operation Empowerment" that trained Saint Sabina members to inspect neighborhood stores for poor conditions. He also developed a team of church members who, rather than have the prostitutes arrested, went out and paid prostitutes for their time so they could talk about how they could turn their lives around.
Father Pfleger has campaigned against the sale of drug paraphernalia, billboards that target children with alcohol and tobacco advertising and saturate communities of color, negative music that glorifies violence and degrades women, the violence and disrespect of women on The Jerry Springer Show...