Hospitality must contaminate because it communicates

Communicating is no easy task in an institution where suffering is part of everyday life. How does one “sell” sickness, vulnerability and handicaps? But there no message to transmit more beautiful than the one we live out every day at St John of God’s.   In a world where everything seems to be coming apart, where the weakest are all too often the losers, the example set by the Brothers of St John of God is more than ever an antidote to that ambient distress.  As we write this testimony, we are following with apprehension the news of our Brothers in Western Africa, where the Ebola virus is raging. The latest news is horrifying: thousands of dead, populations living in anguish, hospitals overflowing, etc.  In the midst of all that, we learned of the death of three hospitaller Brothers. We were stunned at first. How does one communicate hope when those in the front lines can no longer do so; when we find ourselves powerless, stuck in the comfort that surrounds us but is never enough for us? That was when I remembered the story about St John of God who, as he lay on his deathbed, found the superhuman strength to get up and save a wretch who was about to hang himself in the garden.  St John of God tells us through that last gesture that life is the most precious gift; that love is the only answer to the power of evil. That is what those Brothers and Co-Workers who died in Africa were telling us, just like the Saints and blessed members of the Order, and all those whom one rarely hears of but who followed in the footsteps of John Ciudad during the past 450 years. 

In the face of despair, communicating such testimonies restores one’s strength and courage and ignites a small flame. Its light reminds us that even in the darkest hour, hope will always allow us to use all our energy to transcend our limits, to defeat fatalism and to mobilize ourselves into renewed efforts, reminding us of the example of all those that came before us.

Communicating about suffering is not at all an easy task. But communicating about the hope that fills us – therein lies the secret of a great scoop. Finally, I discovered at the Fatebenefratelli that the best messages are not communicated by great speeches but are the stories told by people’s gazes, their smiles and their expressions of tenderness … they  just need to be made more widely known to the public so that we can share with the world the hope that we hold!