Sisters of Saint Joseph in the heart of the world
The Sisters of Saint Joseph are present on five continents and in the most varied missionary activities.
Founded in the heart of France in 1650, in Le Puy, to respond to the pressing needs caused by war and misery, the Sisters of Saint Joseph seek to continue the Little Design.
Today as yesterday, the Sisters of Saint Joseph are called to collaborate in the great Design of God; to recreate life and people in the joy of communion.
Followers of Christ, the Missionary of the Father, the Sisters of Saint Joseph try to respond to the calls and challenges of the world, in the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth. Identifying with Him, the Sisters of Saint Joseph want to see the world with the eyes of God, to love people as God loves them, and to hear their cries as God himself heard the cries of his people (Exodus 3: 7-8).
Following the missionary Christ, the Sisters of Saint Joseph are missionaries wherever they are. The heart of a Sister of Saint Joseph is as large as the planet. Therefore, the mission born in the heart of the Trinity becomes a constant movement of leaving home and of itinerancy for the dream of God, there where it is most threatened or already destroyed.
Announcing the Good News of Jesus, following his way, hearing his word and living in fraternal communities, the mission of a Sister of Saint Joseph has a contemporary scope in light of so many degrading situations:
• conflict and prejudice,
• abandonment and loneliness,
• malnutrition and hunger,
• lack of meaning in life,
• illness and lack of care,
• exclusion of the aged and of minorities,
• marginalization of women,
• destruction of the earth and the environment,
• lack of vision on the part of youth,
• the erosion of and lack of Christian faith.
In these and in so many other situations that cry out, the Sisters of Saint Joseph want to sow hope, take care of life, and be builders of peace. They want to contribute with their charism of unity and of community for the construction of a more just world in solidarity. They want to be prophets where lies and corruption rule.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph seek to make visible the face of tenderness and mercy of God Father and Mother and his compassion for the suffering and excluded in the world that worships money and power.
With eyes open and with the lucidity that comes from the Gospel, the Sisters of Saint Joseph use all the means within their reach, “availing themselves of every breach in the neo-liberal capitalist system, in order to plant the seeds of the Kingdom of God” (D. Erwin Kruter, Bishop of Xingu, Amazonia, Brazil).
Aware that they are a part of all, and keeping in mind the global vision of reality, the Sisters of Saint Joseph work concretely in places where the cries are most urgent: Bolivia, Mozambique, Tanzania, the Czech Republic, Sweden, the Adaman Nicobar Islands and Papua New Guinea.
