"Doors of welcome open to strangers in every country, though in some societies more often and more joyfully than in others. Sadly, there are many countries in which hospitality is the exception rather than the rule. There are those houses in which welcoming a stranger would be more surprising than pointing a gun at him. Far from appreciating a culture of hospitality, there are those who regard as irresponsible if not insane those who welcome strangers.
"One can see practically everything that matters in life in terms of hospitality. Marriage is an act of hospitality: a man and a woman each making space in their life for the other. It is an ongoing crash course in self-giving love versus selfishness. Parenthood too is hospitality. It is hard to think of a more demanding act of hospitality than bearing children and then, once they are born, adjusting one's life to these amazing, unfamiliar guests with their infinity of needs. Perhaps it's in the crucible of family life that we gradually become more capable of welcoming strangers.
"The hospitality of marriage is portrayed in the icon of Mary's parents, Anne and Joachim, welcoming one another while behind them are the wide-open doors of two linked buildings.
"When asked about my education, occasionally I say I am a graduate of 'Dorothy Day University,' then correct myself to say I am still attending classes while working on a degree in hospitality. It is a 'university' that many attend and from which no one ever graduates. Learning hospitality is a lifetime project.
"Despite her death in 1980, Dorothy Day is one of the people who helps us open the front door. It is no wonder so many places of welcome bear her name. She has inspired many to practice hospitality, was herself among the founders of several houses of hospitality, and lived in various houses of hospitality from 1933 until she died. Now she seems to be on her way to being formally recognized as a saint. Her writings continue to influence many people.
"Her basic message — borrowed from the gospel — is stunningly simple: we are called by God to love one another as God loves us.
"If God was life's key word for her, hospitality was nearly as important. Again and again she repeated a simple instruction from the early church, 'Every home should have a Christ room in it, so that hospitality may be practiced.' Hospitality, she explained, is simply practicing God's mercy with those around us. Christ is in the stranger, in those who have nowhere to go and no one to welcome them. 'Those who cannot see the face of Christ in the poor are atheists indeed,' she often said.
"Hardly a day passed in her adult life when she didn't speak about the works of mercy.
"The works of mercy — feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, giving shelter to the homeless, caring for the sick, visiting prisoners, burying the dead — have to be understood not only in a material but also a spiritual way. There is hunger not only for food but also for faith, not only for a place at the table but also for a real welcome, not only for assistance but also for listening, not only for kind words but also for truth.
"There is not only hospitality of the door but hospitality of the face. Dorothy had a face of welcome.
"Until old age stopped her, Dorothy traveled a great deal, giving lectures and visiting houses of hospitality. It was a life on pilgrimage, she said. Indeed, her column in The Catholic Worker was called "On Pilgrimage," nor did the title change when she was forced to give up travel."
