Dear Friends of Joseph House: The Joseph House has been in Salisbury for more than 40 years. When Sr. Mary Elizabeth first arrived on the Eastern Shore, she was more or less a nomad, staying with friends and becoming acquainted with trailer parks. Her wandering came to an end in 1978 after she found the…
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…
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…
Without a good foundation, nothing will stand. Buildings crumble and arguments fall apart if they lack the necessary support beneath them. Human societies also need to rest on something — something that is solid but flexible, dynamic yet enduring. That something is the family. Families are the foundation of society because they create people, not…
Our founder used to say, “A community is not so much a group of people living together to love Christ as it is a group of people loving Christ together.” Being together physically to form a community is not always possible. Distance can keep people apart, not to mention their commitments and circumstances. Now, thanks…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Sr. Mary Elizabeth Gintling, our founder, had a vision for our ministry that continues to guide us. When she started the Joseph House, she had next to nothing apart from a few principles in mind. These principles, and the rationale behind them, were explained by her in this way: 1)….
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…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: She was born in Philadelphia and raised in Baltimore. She lived in a house built by her father on the banks of North Point Creek, from where she liked to set out in a row boat and go crabbing. Trained as a registered nurse, she had several “careers,” and wasn’t…
Dear Friends of Joseph House: Every organization and institution, whether it is civic, business, religious, or charitable, has its own style of operation. It’s not just what they do, but how they do it that sets them apart. This is true of the Joseph House, and our founder Sr. Mary Elizabeth looked to a particular…