Andrew Mcphee
365 TESTIMONIES OF HOSPITALITY |
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Co-worker |
Australia |
Andrew Mcphee |
John of God, following in the footsteps of Jesus, invites us into the ‘hospitality of God’. Only when we accept God as ‘host’ can we be fully human and at peace. My mother, Pauline McPhee, a member of the Brother’s hospital auxiliary, first introduced me, when still a child, to the John-of-God Hospitality. My name is Andrew and many years later I took a position in the Provincial Curia of the Oceania Province at Sydney, Australia. The role provided me with many wonderful opportunities including attendance at a gathering of Brothers and co-workers from South East Asia in Korea and participation at the General Chapter in 2006. Even more memorable though, were the intermittent opportunities to meet the clients. The Hospitality of John, I learnt, draws people from the margins of society- the homeless, the mentally ill, those with a disability- and offers them acceptance and understanding. Meeting these people I felt enriched and enlivened and drawn into that which makes us whole. It is a great paradox that God is found in weakness not strength, in failure not success. When the works of the Brothers in Australia and New Zealand merged into the St John of God Health Care PJP, I took up a position of Director of Mission. The Brother’s modelling of what it means to be hospitable has provided a strong foundation for this role, the purpose of which is to keep a clear focus on the charism of hospitality in the style of St John of God.