Hospitality must be lived both with competence and with the heart. My name is Brother Michael Blažanović and to perform my duties in the Kainbach center for the disabled, I must have a feeling heart and empathy along with my professionalism.

Working alongside the patients who are entrusted to my care is something that fills me with joy and gratitude. When my shift is over and the disabled people with whom I have spent the day say to me, “Mickey, are you going to be with us again tomorrow?” I know that I, too, am receiving Hospitality. That simple little question gives me the strength and the determination to provide Hospitality again the next day.

For me, the ability to transmit joy and a sense of protection to our patients together with the rest of the team is a highly enriching experience. The people we take care of let us know again and again when we have succeeded in combining hospitality and professionalism in their treatment.

Among the patients I usually take care of is a deaf man and learning sign language for me was a major challenge. But my ongoing contact with this person led me to develop such an interest in sign language that I ended up by writing my thesis on the world of the deaf. And I also decided to make an effort to learn the language even better than before.

To live and bear witness to Hospitality in every place and in every moment of the day is the legacy that the founder of our Order, Saint John in God, has left to us. Because of him, I strive to be a welcoming presence to others just as the Lord is for me: He walks at my side, He is with me in the Eucharist and in daily life, and He encourages me to call Him “Abba”, Father.