Posada (Shelter) for Undocumented Immigrants

Last Friday morning, I joined around 100 hardy souls at the
USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) building in the Loop. We were going to join a Posada walking to some of the sites that are sources of pain for many undocumented immigrants. Most of the people were Hispanic,but there were Irish, Polish, and Filipinos, too. Each group took a turn praying in their own language. A stout older Irish man prayed in Gaelic. Apparently, there are around 50,000 undocumented Irish in the U.S. - mainly in New York, Boston, and Chicago.

Next we went to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal prison for men and women awaiting hearings. Many undocumented immigrants are here. (This is also the prison where two convicted bank robbers made a daring escape using bed sheets just a year ago in December 2012. When you view this building from the plaza in front, it's crazy to think that anyone could get out of it.)




 
With a very helpful Chicago police escort, we made our way across some busy Loop intersections during the morning rush hour to DePaul University's Loop campus. This stop highlighted the many restrictions on undocumented students - the Dreamers - who were brought to the U.S. when they were too little to have any say in the matter and are often denied the education that would help themselves and all of us.

Then we went to Federal Plaza to mark the fact that Congress has failed to move forward on Immigration Reform this year.

And we ended up at St. Peter's Church where we were treated to a  breakfast of tamales and hot chocolate. A nice end to a good morning.

A Nice Surprise in the Catechism

I just finished reading through all of the latest edition of the Catechism. I've been at it since the end of last June! There were many Post-Its stuck to the pages I didn't agree with, but the last section on prayer was worth all the time it took to get there. I especially liked the 6 pages on "The Battle of Prayer." It was so good that the authors of this book recognize the struggle many of us have in moving beyond ritualistic words. "We pray as we live, because we live as we pray." What a deep mystery it is to find our efforts thwarted by distraction, dryness, lack of faith, and carelessness.

Now that I am in the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, I'm learning new ways to pray with the Jesuit community. It's really exhilarating to discover so many important things to try out in my thinking. The glories of getting older - and better.