Claretians in the News!

This is the main reason why we are expected to fast: to discipline our physical appetites in order to concentrate on the spiritual realm. Rather than being satiated and dull as the result of too much food and drink, fasting makes our senses sharper and we become more aware of the spiritual realm.

Yes, of course. But it also gives us a reason to call a press conference.

CHICAGO - A Chicago pastor who has been on a strict fast for weeks to show solidarity for DACA recipients and push for humane immigration laws, plans to take his protest to Washington March 4 and 5.

Father Gary Graf said he will march in front of the White House for 40 hours straight, from 9 a.m. (local Washington time) on March 4 through 5 p.m. on March 5.

It will be the priest’s final attempt to encourage Trump to extend DACA. As he marches he will hold placards illustrating the number of “Dreamers,” as DACA recipients are known, who are losing their status per day, 916, and per week, 6,412. By the end of March, he said, 25,648 will have lost DACA status.

At a news conference in Chicago Feb. 12, Graf joined dozens of priests and religious sisters and brothers who promised to fast at least one day a week throughout Lent in solidarity with young people who were brought to the United States without documents as children and now face the possibility of deportation from the only home many remember.

Well, it's nice to see a Claretian priest get a little face time.