What would readers consider to be the most ancient of virtues? Perhaps many would suggest it is the virtue of hospitality. The word virtue shares the same root as the word ‘virility’ which among other things implies courage, the courage to reach out to another. Certainly, hospitality qualifies as a virtue.
Scripture contains famous examples of hospitality or of reaching out. Abraham welcomed the three angelic visitors. Boaz received the migrant Ruth in his home. The widow Zarepheth cared for homeless Elijah. More fundamentally, the original act of hospitality would be God’s creation of mankind and his invitation to dwell in paradise. In the New Testament Jesus reaches out to the forgotten and ignored. In the early years of the Church a driving force for evangelization was the practice of Christians to open their homes to those considered inferior elements of society.
One may wonder if today the virtue of hospitality enjoys the same degree of esteem. Perhaps it does. Or perhaps it is deemed less relevant as a result of the dehumanizing effects of our increasingly technocratic and polarizing life style.
A quintessential example of hospitality is the corporal work of mercy of welcoming the stranger – an imperative especially pressing with today’s level of global migration. In our country, this trend obviously (and urgently) is manifested in the challenges of immigration. Sceptics, take heart! These challenges are being addressed by numerous organizations supported by Catholic philanthropy. As an example, Michele Pistone, a law professor at Villanova University, has created and launched a program which effectively addresses one of these challenges, the lack of sufficient legal advocates working within the immigration system.
The program Professor Pistone has founded is ‘The Villanova Interdisciplinary Immigration Studies Training for Advocates: VIISTA. As its website states:
Students who earn VIISTA certificates will be eligible, under existing regulations, to apply to become Department of Justice ‘accredited representatives’, authorized to provide low-cost legal representation to migrant and refugee families when they work for DOJ ‘recognized organizations’ ……..Our curriculum is holistic – we teach about immigration from various perspectives and include all the topics needed to become effective immigrant advocates – such as interviewing, how to work with an interpreter, how to work with migrant children, factors that push people to migrate, providing trauma-informed care, trial advocacy – and, of course, immigration law.
Essentially, graduates of VIISTA become accredited representatives which in the legal profession are similar to what physician assistants are in the medical profession. They can provide legal advice and support people with cases in the immigration system. In today’s environment, it is easy to see how the VIISTA program addresses a critical need.
At the risk of pedantry, it’s worth pointing out that the etymological root for hospitality is the ancient Greek word hospes which refers to both host and guest, a word which for the Greeks captured the trust and kindness in the host-guest bond. It resembles the relationship in the collaboration between a VIISTA volunteer and an immigrant facing legal hurdles.
The irony enshrined in this mutual relationship between host and guest is nourishing. While the former helps the latter make his way in this world, the latter helps the former make his way into the next. And so, the Kingdom advances.
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