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over the years
I feel privileged to be Director of the Shrine of St. Joseph this year as we celebrate our 80th anniversary.
While I also served in this position during our 75th anniversary, I see God’s blessing more intensely now. Maybe it is the connection I feel to the 9/11 tragedy through our Tower of Remembrance, knowing that our sacred space is also hallowed ground. The “Turning From Violence” Icon in our Chapel challenges the violence and hatred in our world. The restored original Shrine to St. Joseph invites us to peaceful prayer. And the welcoming of Latino immigrants, our San Jose Community, parallels Fr. Thomas Augustine Judge’s concern for immigrants in 1924.
Fr. Judge embraced the spiritual needs of new immigrants with a passionate fervor. The Shrine of St. Joseph thus became a grounding place for people on a faith journey; as a retreat center, academy for boys, inspirational home for seminarians; a place of spiritual renewal for clergy. A sacred space where all people can journey with their God.
Over the years, thousands of people have knelt in the rustic barn Chapel that stood for over 50 years, and now our modern Chapel, absorbing the peace of Christ through the silence of a landscape that nurtures intimate prayer and quiet reflection.
The Shrine of St. Joseph’s mission is about people – those people who “go to Joseph”, trusting in the compassion, understanding and acceptance they will find at the Shrine of St. Joseph. The miracle of God’s closeness touches those who visit and pray here. Fr. Judge’s belief, that in the ordinary events of one’s life the extraordinary happens, energizes our mission to nourish spiritual growth.
With the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy and Blessed Trinity, Sisters Servants of Jesus, the Shrine Steering Council, the Lay Staff, the three Worshipping Communities and the committed pilgrims gathered as one, let us celebrate the past and embrace the future.
Father Peter Krebs S.T.