Dear Friends of Joseph House: When we consider people in need—”the poor”—we may focus on how they’re different from us. Do we ever consider how we’re the same? Does that change how we want to respond to them? Our founder Sr. Mary Elizabeth once shared a story from the early days of the Joseph House…
The Joseph House Workshop is a residential program for homeless men that teaches life-skills needed for employment. It is not an emergency shelter, but a long-term therapeutic program that provides men a supportive place to live and opportunities to grow in all aspects of life. Men who enter the program spend the first three months…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: The month of June is the turning point of the year. As we approach the summer solstice, the days stretch out with long hours of sunlight, while the darkness of night takes a temporary retreat. But for human beings, darkness isn’t confined to the night sky. Summer days notwithstanding, darkness…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: We were talking not that long ago about what it means to be in charge. We laughed because being the “head honcho” is not always glamorous. In our line of work, it usually means you’re the one pushing a broom, cleaning up after everyone has left. This shouldn’t be too…
Charles de Foucauld composed this prayer as he meditated on the death of Jesus on the Cross: “This was the last prayer of our Master, our Beloved. May it also be ours. And may it be not only that of our last moment, but also of our every moment: “Father,I abandon myself into Your hands;do…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: When the tomb of Christ opened on that first Easter Sunday, a new reality for all people also opened up: resurrection is just as real as the cross. Although rooted in history and the bodily nature of existence, the Resurrection of Jesus reveals an entirely new horizon for the whole…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: We read with interest about a series of meetings that started at Harvard Divinity School between Nuns and Nones, “nones” referring to young adults, or millennials, who profess no religious affiliation (about 25% of the population). Apart from the obvious differences—such as the age gap—the two groups discovered they share…
One of the most familiar passages in Scripture is the story of the Good Samaritan. Even people who say they don’t know much about the Bible know how the story goes: a man was attacked by robbers and left beaten and bloodied by the side of the road. Two others came along, a priest and…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: We rarely get the chance to do great things for other people. Our days are filled, however, with moments to do little things. These are precious and not to be squandered—they are capable of doing so much good. Sometimes the moment occurs unexpectedly. The key is to be ready at…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: January is a hopeful time. We open a new calendar and all the empty spaces are there waiting to be filled in. The year is fresh and each day a new possibility. Maybe this is the year we will keep our resolutions. January is also the middle of the cold…