At your request...

OK, so a few of you wonder what happened to the goING away party of which I spoke last time. So here goes...

Annette, Oneida and I spent a long time setting up the hall on Friday then preparing all the sandwiches, punch and desserts on Sunday morning. We really are an excellent team, I must say!

Well, turns out there was a break down in communication somewhere because whereas the parish administrator asked us to do everything on behalf of the parish, others talked among themselves and turned it into a potluck. Sooooo...there was WAY TOO MUCH FOOD, and there still would have been too much even if we hadn't spent all that time shopping, setting up and fixing it all. So, overall, we weren't even really needed.

But we had fun, nonetheless.

For those of you who read Lost a Sock, you will know she has been doing extremely well on her diet. Me, not so much. Even though I have tried to be more conscious of what I've been eating, it hasn't worked that well. Sometimes I keep track of points, sometimes not. I have not lost any more than like 3 pounds in a month and a half. I really have no one to blame but myself, but I still don't like it. I can't seem to put my finger on what I did so right last time and what I am not doing, or can't bring myself to do, this time.

In a little bit of other news, in less than a month from now, my good friend and former boss will be installed as provincial of the Augustinians of the midwest province. I am looking forward to going to the celebration. I wonder where we'll go afterwards! ;)

Why do I do these things to myself?

A while back, Oneida, Annette and I got ourselves into organizing/shopping for/setting up for a go-away celebration for a deacon at St. Rita parish. For those of you who know the situation at all, the pastor who had been there that we had problems with is now gone and an administrator is in his place for 6 months. So we agreed to do it.

Well we went shopping for it all today and got I don't know how many hundreds of buns and potato chips. It really is a lot of work for the three of us. It would not be so bad except my biggest problem is the parish hall that it is being held in is a MESS! Paint falling off the walls, dirty, etc. It does look (and smell) better than it did a week ago, but still needs lots of work.

I ask myself why I do these kinds of things to myself not because I do not enjoy it somewhat (I pretty much enjoy ANYTHING I end up doing with Annette and Oneida - we are the Three Musketeers) but I have so many other things going on too. I just ADD TO IT!

Oh well, let's see what happens tomorrow when we decorate for this shindig and then Sunday as we make our assembly line of chicken salad, ham, turkey and roast beef sandwiches.

Rally

Yesterday was the march and rally for immigrant reform here in downtown Chicago. From when I first heard there was going to be this second one, I knew I wanted to go. While it is certainly not only a Latino issue in the U.S., it largely is all over and especially here in Chicago where so many of them have come. Living in a Hispanic neighborhood and having ministered in Hispanic parishes for many years, I especially wanted to show my support against the overly punitive legislation that is up in Congress right now. I also know of a number of Polish immigrants and Lithuanian immigrants, so I wanted to show my support for them as well.

I was so impressed to see so many people come together for a cause. The streets of downtown Chicago were filled with people. The estimates are anywhere from 400,000 to 700,000. And not one arrest was made. It was very peaceful. I did not walk the entire march route, but took the train downtown and met up with the march there. One of the very first things I saw was the St. Clare Parish banner being held high. I felt proud they were present.

We walked over to the south end of Grant Park where it was just a sea of people. Without really knowing it, I ended up very close to the stage of speakers. Probably only 15 people deep. In the three and half hours I stood there, I moved only a few feet one way or the other there were so many people pressed together. I saw a large number of Mexican flags, Polish flags, Irish flags and flags I don't even know. Of course the flag most present was the American flag.

While I do believe that it is best that everyone from other countries should be properly documented, the problem is that this country makes it so difficult and the system so messed up that it becomes almost impossible for many to acheive legal status. In the meantime, the bill that passed the House wants to make undocumented immigrants felons and throw them in jail. Perhaps the most immoral part of that bill is that it would also criminalize any act of helping an undocumented person. That means that any one of us who would give someone a cup of soup, help them find a job, or give them any other assistance could potentially be imprisoned. What has this country come to?

I do not intend to start a political debate with anyone who disagrees with me. But if you want more information, here is the link to the "Justice for Immigrants" (of the Catholic Church) website where you can also write your congressman to support the other bill in Congress supporting immigrant reform.

Justice for Immigrants