Our Mission

Relying on this grace of divine election, we freely respond by offering our total gift of self to Christ in love. We accept His pattern of life -- chaste, poor, and obedient -- so that our whole life is consecrated to God.

Through our Congregation, the Church sends us that we may assist our brothers and sisters to direct their lives to God in faith that they too may glorify the Father in heaven.

To this end we devote ourselves in a corporate apostolate of ministry to one another in the Community and to all manner of work with the poor, the establishment of lay fraternities and the bringing of Christ to the marketplace through the shops -- in all this responding to the needs of the times and giving preferential love to the poorest of the poor.

The primary field of our mission is within the ministries of the Joseph House, established by our founder, Sr. Mary Elizabeth Gintling.

We have received as our heritage the contemplative and apostolic spirit of Brother Charles which comes to us through the living tradition of our community and of other communities inspired by his life. We are sent, as he was, to help people believe in Christ Jesus who reveals the goodness of the Father.

In fulfilling our ministries, we try to act in the spirit of simplicity, seeking only God's greater glory and relying humbly on the guidance of the Spirit rather than on our own power and plans so that Christ in His love can minister through us and use the diversity of graces and gifts given us for the building up of the Body of Christ.

As members of this community, we want to keep abreast of developments within the universal Church and society. We should be filled with a missionary spirit, ready to carry the good news to the ends of the earth and to adapt ourselves to various cultures and peoples.

A devoted love for those we serve will lead us to enter into solidarity with them. In the same spirit which animated Brother Charles, we will seek out the poor and oppressed, help them recognize their human dignity, and give them hope and courage in their struggles.

Our apostolic work may lack human satisfaction and visible success. Then we realize more than ever that we are sharing in the saving work of Jesus who, by being lifted up, draws all persons to Himself. Through the power of His love He strengthens us and gives us courage.

We look to Mary, Queen of Apostles, for support and direction in our efforts, and to Br. Charles for inspiration and courage, to proclaim by word and deed the overwhelming goodness of God so that all may come to know life's meaning and goal and praise the Father's glory.

Through her life, Mary made visible in a perfect way the glad tidings of the Gospel and participated in the redemptive mission of her Son. In her complete dedication to the Lord in faith and love, she is the model of our daily surrender to the ever new call of God. We honor Mary as Mother of the Church and as patroness of our congregation, and St. Joseph as our provider and protector.

Adapted from the Constitutions and Rule of the Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary

Our ministry is a sharing in the saving work of Jesus who, by being lifted up, draws all persons to Himself.

"Each sister has the capacity to do something special for God. We help them develop those capacities, but we never hide our faults.

"We know we are all broken people healing other broken people through God's love."

Sr. Mary Elizabeth Gintling
founder of the Joseph House and the Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary