I have met Fr Joe about three years ago at the Salvatorian Encounter in Rome. He was one of the presenters and facilitators of this interesting and enriching program. During the Encounter Fr Joe shared with the participants his special gift of acting as he presented to us the person of Fr Francis Jordan by impersonating our Founder, which was very interesting and impressive to watch.

Our Annual Retreat, which Fr Joe conducted for us here in Perth, WA from the 10th to 14th of March 2014 was for me and I think for all participants a very worthwhile, refreshing and challenging experience. Using a short reflection on one of the Stations of the Cross as a starting point for each of the presentations Fr Joe reflected on various aspects of our Salvatorian and priestly life. He reminded us of the rich heritage left for us by our Founder as he quoted a number of so called “golden thoughts” of Fr Francis Jordan. Just to mention a few:

• “Immerse yourself in the ocean of the love of God”,
• “All baptised are called to be Apostles”,
• “Nothing prospers, except in the shadow of the Cross”.

I found the whole retreat very engaging and relatable because Fr Joe shared generously a large number of experiences and stories from his life and various ministries he was involved in over the years. Our retreat master dedicated a significant amount of time talking about forgiveness and reconciliation, which refreshed and deepen our understanding of those important topics.

And all that was done in an interesting and easily capturing our attention way as Fr Joe shared with us his top class acting and singing skills as well as using music and audio-visual projections.

Thank you Fr Joe for accepting our invitations to do this retreat for us. Thank you for your generosity and openness to share so much of who you are with our Salvatorian Community in Australia.

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Fr Joe Rodrigues SDS, is a member of the international religious order, Society of the Divine Saviour, the Salvatorians. He is currently the Provincial of the USA Province and Director of Vocations. He had been a member of the Jordan Ministry Team working in collaboration with the Diocese of Tucson. This ministry team did outreach to provide human and spiritual formation and education for all ages, including Lay Ecclesial Leaders and Deacons. He also assisted with sacramental ministry at Most Holy Trinity Parish in Tucson.

Fr. Joe has served in national leadership for his community and has ministered in a variety of capacities including Director of Formation, Director of Novices and Candidates. He has ministered in parishes, youth detention centres, special religious education for developmentally disabled, hospital and prison chaplaincies, youth and young adult ministries, missions in the favelas of Brazil, and published articles, to mention a few.  He has provided spiritual direction and pastoral counselling for many. He has given numerous parish missions, retreats, presentations, and concerts nationally and internationally from Rome to Manilla. He has developed ways to integrate his singing and dramatic skills to enrich the experience with multi-media presentations which can engage and inspire all ages.

Aside from having sung the national anthem for the Milwaukee Brewers numerous times, Fr Joe has recorded music CDs of contemporary inspirational music for all ages, Chorus of Faith, Sing Divine Fire andDesert Rain. His latest recording, The Spirit of Christmas, received national attention on radio and television. The CDs have been fundraisers for Salvatorian ministries.