I am Brother Thomas Pham and for me Hospitality is my vocation. Hospitality means being open to all men, not just to friends and acquaintances but also to perfect strangers. This is what I learned from Saint John of God and from my parish priest back in my own country, who urged me to follow their examples.

When I was young, I lived for a time with my parish priest and it was from him that I first learned about the concept of Hospitality. Even to this day, he welcomes every kind of person, listening to what they have to say and helping them. He is my mentor and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. But God had a different plan for me. He led me to a foreign land where I was given Hospitality as a guest and as a foreigner. Today, I live in Austria, a country where you live and breathe Hospitality. I thank God for having called me to the Order of Saint John of God where I have the joy of being able to live Hospitality as my Fourth Vow.

In the community in which I now live, I am in daily contact with people who come to our hospitals or clinics seeking help and who are welcomed and treated with dedication, respect and love.

For me, Hospitality also means feeling at home, wherever I may be. My prayer for myself and indeed for all humanity is that we learn to truly understand the meaning of the word Hospitality and that we make it an integral part of our lives as expressed in the new commandment that God gave us in the Gospel of John: “Love each other as I have loved you.”