Noreen Russo -"Help those who are least among us"
Carmel Cowan
Thought you would appeciate this letter to the parish by Noreen Russo, the new leader of Action
at St Joseph & Francis Xavier!
"Help those who are least among us."
-----------------------------------------
October 17, 2021
Dear Saints Joseph and Francis Xavier family,
As I was reflecting on today’s readings, I was struck by Jesus’ love for us. In the reading, He says to His disciples and us,
“Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
We know Jesus loves us so much that He gave His life for us.
But what also stands out to me about this reading is that Jesus tells his followers and us that if we wish to be great, we must serve those who are least among us, as He was and is willing to do for us. As I was reflecting on this, I felt good. I felt good about all that this great parish does to use our time, talent, and treasure to help those on the margins. This is illustrated by our great presence in Haiti, Saint Thomas of Canterbury, and the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels. We also show this by having a Saint Vincent de Paul Society, the LOSS group who meets in Wilmette, ACTION and many more, who are all doing great work!
The parish of Saints JFX continues to amaze me with all that you do! I am grateful to be back at this community where I learned my life values of faith, love, and charity. And I learned to help those who are least among us.
Recently at work, a consultant gave me the assignment to read the book “The Road Back to You” by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stable. In the book about enneagrams, I learned that I am a number 2 or the “Helper,” which is one of nine ways on how you relate to the world. That might sound good, but all the enneagrams have their pros and cons. Unfortunately, I have a few cons that I continue to work on!
The consultant also asked me to recall my earliest memory of when I knew I was a helper. I replied that as a young girl, my mom pulled me aside when I was in 4th or 5th grade. She was upset with me because she was driving me and some friends to our basketball game and we had been talking about another girl in our class. To put it lightly, we were not being so Christian. She said my behavior was intolerable and encouraged me to stand up for this classmate and not talk about people but instead to invite them into the group. My mom told me that I should help make the situation better and not worse for our classmate. She said we all have things that we can bring to the table.
This moment changed me forever; I recognized that as a leader I could change the way people saw other people, that I could lead by helping those in need. I could help my classmates understand each other. I could help people come together for the better. I could serve and help those least among us.
Just this past month, a Catholic Charities colleague’s daughter passed away tragically. She was about my age and left behind her grieving father and mother, her brother and two young children. As I was sitting in the funeral home waiting for the service to begin, I opened the funeral booklet and noticed in big bold letters that a Catholic Charities representative would be giving remarks about the deceased. Noticing that my boss and I were the only people there from Catholic Charities, I asked my boss, “Are you going to talk?”. When she declined, I said, “Well then, I guess I am talking,” even though I really hadn’t known my colleague’s daughter and always need to prepare for public speaking occasions.
When I approached the podium and looked out at the crowed, I thought about how different my life was from my colleague’s, and about how much God loves us both. I am not sure what I said, but I knew that what we are all called to do is love and to be there for the least, even when it seems impossible or scary. I knew my job was to bring whatever comfort I could to my colleague’s family.
My hope, as ACTION builds up and we begin to engage in more service opportunities, is that we listen to these words Jesus spoke to us thousands of years ago that are still relevant today. We can serve the least right in our own community and beyond. We are all called by Jesus to be the helper. When we build community here at Saints JFX and bring our talent and treasures to the world, great things will continue to happen!
I am grateful for the ACTION Students, Father Wayne, Fr. Ryan and for both Sr. Kate O’Leary and Jack O’Connor for speaking. We have a great year ahead of us! If you ever have suggestions, volunteer opportunities, or want to chat, I am available.
Peace,
Noreen May Russo
Mike Tobin
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2021 10:17:16 AM
To: google O'Connor <oconnor...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Noreen Russo -"Help those who are least among us"
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Connor Creevy
Matt O’Connor
On Oct 18, 2021, at 12:09 PM, Connor Creevy <conc...@gmail.com> wrote:
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Noreen May Russo
On Oct 18, 2021, at 12:35 PM, 'Matt O’Connor' via The O'Connors <Oconnor...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Fantastic Noreen!
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Oconnorfamily14/B6F714B7-3FF2-45A7-B69E-DACAE6209CC3%40aol.com.
Carmel Tobin
On Oct 18, 2021, at 12:48 PM, Noreen May Russo <noreen...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hahaha yes and I didn’t pass the ball to the girl…only to Ellie. As my mom also wisely told me in the 4th or 5th grade “shoot, shoot, shoot, glory, glory, glory”
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Oconnorfamily14/F4C40A35-6204-46C2-8E29-CA251A28DFF4%40gmail.com.
Carmel Tobin
On Oct 18, 2021, at 12:48 PM, Noreen May Russo <noreen...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hahaha yes and I didn’t pass the ball to the girl…only to Ellie. As my mom also wisely told me in the 4th or 5th grade “shoot, shoot, shoot, glory, glory, glory”
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Oconnorfamily14/F4C40A35-6204-46C2-8E29-CA251A28DFF4%40gmail.com.
Carmel Tobin
On Oct 18, 2021, at 12:48 PM, Noreen May Russo <noreen...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hahaha yes and I didn’t pass the ball to the girl…only to Ellie. As my mom also wisely told me in the 4th or 5th grade “shoot, shoot, shoot, glory, glory, glory”
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Oconnorfamily14/F4C40A35-6204-46C2-8E29-CA251A28DFF4%40gmail.com.
Carmel Tobin
On Oct 18, 2021, at 12:48 PM, Noreen May Russo <noreen...@gmail.com> wrote:
Hahaha yes and I didn’t pass the ball to the girl…only to Ellie. As my mom also wisely told me in the 4th or 5th grade “shoot, shoot, shoot, glory, glory, glory”
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Oconnorfamily14/F4C40A35-6204-46C2-8E29-CA251A28DFF4%40gmail.com.
Carmel Tobin
On Oct 18, 2021, at 1:44 PM, Carmel Tobin <carme...@gmail.com> wrote:
Noreen for President!!!!!!
Margaret Macnamara
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Dudefest Chicago
On Oct 18, 2021, at 2:26 PM, Margaret Macnamara <mmacn...@saic.edu> wrote:
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Ellie O'Connor
On Oct 18, 2021, at 4:50 PM, Dudefest Chicago <dudefes...@gmail.com> wrote:
Ultimate prez!!!!
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Eunice Ryan
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maggie...@gmail.com
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Anna Palomino
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Jessica
On Oct 19, 2021, at 11:27 AM, Anna Palomino <anniep...@gmail.com> wrote:
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Jack O'Connor
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Francie Bala
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