The Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary describe their way of life as being active-contemplatives. What does that mean? Sr. Mary Elizabeth Gintling, the community’s founder, wanted the Little Sisters to be “people of deep prayer and silence,” and then bring this contemplative spirit to their work with the poor. It’s a way of life…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Picture a swiftly-moving river, tumbling over rocks, swirling with currents and eddies. Trying to swim in such a river would be a tiring, and probably frightening, experience. You would feel buffeted and pushed around by forces stronger than you. The world would seem to be rushing by. You wouldn’t know…
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…
Every religious community has its own charism, a particular way of life and a spirit that forms its identity. In setting the charism of the Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary, Sr. Mary Elizabeth Gintling looked to an obscure French priest who lived from 1858 to 1916. His name was Charles de Foucauld. Charles spent…
Sooner or later, most of us will be in a situation where we don’t know what to say. We might be caught off-guard, or there’s something about the circumstances we’re in, or the person we’re speaking with, that ties up our tongue. It happens to just about everyone. Sometimes words fail us when we are…
Through his ministry as shepherd and teacher, Pope Francis is presenting the Gospel with simplicity without sacrificing its depth. His words let the truth shine. His actions also speak clearly about the importance of humility. While serving as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he taught a “simple” method of prayer to children. It’s easy to…