RUSS PRATALI
Strategic Advisor - Executive Director, River of Light
Stranded in the airport in Rome in 1989, traveling with 60 members to Medjugorje, I had the privilege of meeting Mother Theresa on her way to Russia to meet with survivors of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster.
Having missed our flight from Rome to Yugoslavia, we assumed we would return to the US with all our young people and adults traveling to this sacred site. My daughter heard that Mother Theresa was approaching our airport area, so we had the honor of meeting her and asking for her prayers to help us make another connection. She was true to her word and asked us to pray for her journey as she prayed for ours. After her miraculous visit, we could make another flight and complete our journey. Meeting Mother Theresa inspired me to imitate her devotion to people with low incomes for the rest of my life.
On our return to Chicago, our Medjugorje pilgrims help establish the John Paul Eucharistic Adoration Chapel for the Missionary Sisters of Charity in Chicago at 18th and Allport Streets. One day, I was asked to help deliver large boxes of cookies to those sisters. As I observed the humility of these sisters serving the poor in the Soup Kitchen, I knew they needed more than cookies. Soon after that time, in 1989, I became certified to deliver fresh meat, produce, and other grocery items from generous donors like Mariano’s and Trader Joe’s grocery stores. Using my car and a truck with a volunteer staff we began River of Light, twenty-five years ago, our mission began to serve the soup kitchens, food pantries and Veteran Centers in Chicago with food, furniture and other items they request.
Today, River of Light delivers food six days a week to over 25 food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters in the poorest neighborhoods of the Chicagoland area. Mother Theresa blessed me that fateful day in the airport, and it transformed my life forever. I have never turned back from the mission to serve the poor. Mother Theresa is our patron saint, blessing the work we do every day while serving those in need.
“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.”
– Mother Theresa
