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: 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: A few months ago, three of us were at a gas station on a rainy morning in late winter when a familiar face appeared. It was Gregory, looking cold and a little down. The Sister at the wheel rolled down the car window.“Hi Gregory, how are you doing?”“Hi Sister. You…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Feed the hungry…Give drink to the thirsty…Clothe the naked…Shelter the homeless…Visit the sick…Visit the imprisoned…Bury the dead. These are the Corporal Works of Mercy, the basic acts of charity and kindness found principally in the Parable of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) and elsewhere in the Bible (Is 58:6-14 and…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Here it is November already, and another year is flying by. It’s a special year, too, the “Year of St. Joseph,” which was declared by Pope Francis as a way to promote this saint whose example offers hope during our troubled times. St. Joseph, of course, is very dear to…
We are anxiously waiting to hear when Charles de Foucauld will be canonized. The date should be announced soon. [Update: Charles was canonized on May 15, 2022.] To help you know more about our spiritual father, here are the main points of his spirituality, as written by our founder Sr. Mary Elizabeth Gintling: There are…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Living under harsh circumstances does not mean we ourselves have to be harsh. Charles de Foucauld is proof of that. For fifteen years, from 1901 until his death in 1916, Charles made his home in Algeria, surrounded by the moonscape of the Sahara Desert. Famine, loneliness, exhaustion . . ….
Dear Friends of Joseph House: To be homeless means more than just being without shelter. It means to go without everything implied by the word “home.” Imagine not having a bed to sleep in or a bathroom to use. Imagine not having a kitchen, with no refrigerator or freezer to store your food and no…
Anne Cuomo, one of our many wonderful volunteers, passed away on February 3, 2021, from COVID-19. She was a special friend of our community. After earning her B.A. in Mathematics, Anne worked for 34 years in the field of computer and software management for the Department of Defense. Her husband Peter died in 1986, and…
The Joseph House Workshop is a long-term residential program for men who were homeless. It help them advance toward gainful employment and healthy new lives. Here is an interview with Nick, Assistant Director, who is also a Workshop graduate: How many men are in the program? We have 4 men here now; one is in…