What Kind of God
Fr. Stephen Quinn, S.T.
July 2000

How easy it is to dismiss God when we understand God as unconcerned or distant from our life, or, worse still, when God is seen as sheer power, poised to pounce on us for our mistakes. 

The founder of the Shrine of Saint Joseph, Father Thomas Augustine Judge, C.M., was deeply in love with a totally different God. His God was a God of love, of compassion and of understanding. Further, Father Judge had a burning desire to share his love and understanding of his God.

In founding the Shrine, it was Father Judge's intent that the Shrine be a place where anyone could come to experience the love and understanding of such a God and know the effects of an encounter with such a loving God, and thus experience the healing of hurts, reconciliation, and the continuing nurturing of such a love. He instructed his followers, especially his priests, to foster in themselves such an understanding of God, and, whenever possible, to minister the love and compassion of such a God.

We here at the Shrine hold such a challenge as sacred and we welcome the opportunity to bring the love of such a God to bare in the lives of those who come to the Shrine for whatever reason.

But more than that, the heart of the Shrine was for Father Judge, and remains for us, the Chapel where Jesus is present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. In the words of Father Judge, Jesus (in the Eucharist) is

"The God-given testament in which Our Lord has pledged the Rainbow of His mercy shall forever (be) over the tabernacle of the Catholic temple as time shall endure."

So we do affirm with great joy that the Shrine is Holy Ground, where a very loving and understanding God can be encountered and such compassionate love experienced.

We have just finished celebrating the holiest of times in the liturgical life of the Church. We have experienced the joy of Our Lord's Easter Resurrection after the agonizing terror of Good Friday. We have concluded the Easter Season with the feast of the Pentecost. May the Joy of Easter continue to resonate in your hearts. And do come visit the Shrine to know its peace and tranquility!