Dear Friends of Joseph House: Nine years after starting the Joseph House, our founder thought it needed a change in focus. The year was 1974 and Sr. Mary Elizabeth had just begun forming our community, the Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary, in Baltimore. She thought it was time to provide conferences and days of…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Our mission at the Joseph House is to help people in crisis situations, no matter what their needs may be. It doesn’t matter if it’s rent or an electric bill or medical care or anything else—if we can verify the need, and we have the means to help, we go…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: As you know from reading our monthly Newsletter, we attend to many people who come to the Joseph House Crisis Center. Sometimes people travel a considerable distance because they’re desperate and afraid of losing their housing or having their utilities turned off. But not everyone is able to come to…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Last month we presented some thoughts on the Good Samaritan courtesy of Pope Benedict. We’d like to do a little more with help from Pope Francis this time, who wrote an excellent commentary on the parable in his encyclical, On Fraternity and Social Friendship. Francis takes a look at each…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Here’s a fun fact: centuries ago, if you had called a nun “silly,” she would have taken it as a compliment! She probably wouldn’t today (although personally we would smile and nod and say yes, sometimes it’s true), but back in the Middle Ages the word meant pious and devout….
Dear Friends of Joseph House: January is the doorway into a new year. It’s a threshold we cross, and although symbolic (January 1st was just another day), it is still rich in meaning, like many other thresholds. A literal threshold we cross every day is the one going into our homes. Our front door marks…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Whether it comes naturally to one’s self or not, our convent life is geared toward early risers. At this time of year our days begin in darkness. It is quiet and still when we gather in the chapel for Morning Prayer. We recite psalms, listen to a Scripture reading, and…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Not long ago, we had to wait for someone in the parking lot of a shopping center. It gave us the chance to do some people watching. We saw a man with gray hair timidly approach people and ask them something. He held out his hand in the unmistakable gesture…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: When our founder started our community in 1974, she wanted it to be counter-cultural. But her understanding of what that meant was counter-cultural itself. Emulating Jesus, Mary, and Joseph is what Sr. Mary Elizabeth had in mind. She was inspired by the Holy Family and the life they lived in…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: No matter how old we get, September always means “back to school” in some way. Summer is over and now it’s time to get a little more serious. There are some things we miss about our school days, like getting new school supplies and the anticipation of new classes and…