The following was written by Rene Voillaume on Good Friday, 1948. It is part of his meditations on the “Way of the Cross.” With the Cross, Christ Jesus, You have taken into Your charge the whole of mankind, with all the weight of its weaknesses and woes and sins and death. Such is Your love…
As the Joseph House is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, we are taking a look back at some moments in its history. This post is about the first home of the Joseph House, the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Baltimore. When Sr. Mary Elizabeth began the Joseph House as layperson in October of…
Dorothy Day (1897-1980) was a journalist and social activist. She co-founded the Catholic Worker newspaper, which carries on her dedication to peace and the works of mercy. When Pope Francis addressed a joint session of the United States Congress on September 24, 2015, he spoke about Dorothy as an example of someone who worked to…
Our convent in Salisbury, Maryland is in a neighborhood called Newtown. It’s named this because many of the houses were built in the aftermath of two devastating fires that swept through the community, one in 1860 and the other in 1886. We’ve seen photographs of our street after one of the infernos: only the chimneys…
To walk forward, we place one foot in front of the other. The walk toward social justice in the world requires the same effort. Two feet are needed for this movement: one is “Direct Service” and the other is “Social Change.” Both are needed to achieve justice, both are needed to stay balanced. Direct Service…
Here is a story from our founder, Sr. Mary Elizabeth Gintling, about her discernment to leave the Little Sisters of the Poor and begin a new ministry with the poor. Pictured above is the promise she professed to God after starting the Joseph House as a layperson. “I felt that if God asked me to…
Sr. Mary Elizabeth Gintling was very deliberate in choosing the names of the two organizations she founded. The Joseph House was named in honor of St. Joseph. Sister said that if God trusted Joseph to care for Mary and Jesus, then she could trust him, too. She always referred to St. Joseph as our provider…