Jim Spillane, SJ - University of St. Thomas

SPIRITUALITY OF WORK IN THE
HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Dr. James J. Spillane, S.J.
I. THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF HOSPITALITY
The article of P. Gouirand (1991) traces the origins and evolution of hospitality.
Among the many interpretations of the hospitality concept two are singled out. That
of Kant who defined hospitality as the right of a stranger not to be treated with
hostility; and that of French encyclopaedists who defined hospitality as generosity
towards strangers. Interpretations of hospitality in the Odyssey and the Bible are also
discussed. Literature from as early as the 11th century shows that among certain people
in central Europe, refusing hospitality to a stranger was a capital crime. By the 15th
century there are very good accounts of receiving visitors in the literature. It was not
until the mid-19th century, however, that professional hospitality emerged, primarily
as a result of: (1) the almost total disappearance of private hospitality; and (2) the
development of quality hotels which made commercial hospitality respectable.
In the article of M. Laplante (1991) hospitality is seen at first sight to be simply a form
of communication. However, it is a form of communication which has specific
characteristics since it establishes a relationship both between the visitors and tourists
themselves and between the hosts and guests at a particular destination. The
hospitality gestures and behaviour of the host form an integral part of the visitors'
overall experience and a component of the service package offered. The concept of
hospitality is discussed from a behavioural standpoint in the perspective of a host-guest
relationship and an interactive process, and its role in the tourist industry's strategy of
communication is considered. The tourism industry can be divided among three main
actors: those who seek satisfaction or welfare through their travels (tourists or guests);
those whose lives and places in society become the medium for its practice (residents or
hosts); and those who promote and accommodate it (tourism businesses or brokers).
This paper will concentrate on the latter group who will be referred to as hospitality
professionals.
1.1 The Concept of Hospitality
The word "hospitality" is a translation of the latin noun hospitium (on the adjective
hospitalis) which in turn derives from the word hospes meaning both guest and host.
Behind this double connotation is the Greek concept of the xenos = the stranger
who receives a welcome or, less frequently, acts as a welcomer of others. A great many

cultures attach religious and ethical value to the establishment of friendly exchanges
between those who view one another as different - in rank, race or trade - and,
therefore, potentially dangerous. In order to provide a focus for interpreting the diverse
religious traditions that relate to this subject, J. Koenig (1987) concentrated upon the
prescribed behavior for guests and hosts particularly at meals, and the reasons stated
or implied for these moves.
In all the culture and traditions examined about hospitality in especially in the form of
the guest meal, J. Koenig (1987) found them marked by exchanges of spiritual and /
or material goods. These exchanges frequently have the effect of multiplying
blessings and merit for the participants beyond the sum total of resources brought by
the guests and hosts. Sometimes gods, dead relatives and forces of nature are thought to
be present at the meal. In every case, their influence is felt, typically as a communion
or production alliance with the deeper forces of the universe.
In classical Greek and Latin literature, hospitality is an eminently practical virtue.
Through gift exchanges and the sharing of food or shelter peace and harmony are
achieved in what would otherwise be a chaotic world. In the Greek epic tradition, the
gods themselves sometimes put on human disguises and assume the role of guests. On
these occasions when they are welcomed, they respond with good news (Odyssey
1:180 ff) or extraordinary gifts (Ovid Metamorphoses 8:678 ff).
For the ancient Greeks and Romans hospitality was a sure sign of civilization and
religion in practice. From the Homeric period onwards the Greek world considered that
only "barbarians" were inhospitable. The welcome of the stranger was not to be
restricted to material succour but had perforce to respect his humanity. In the ancient
and modern culture of nomadic peoples, too, hospitality means a vital necessity
which has become a virtue. J. Danielou said that civilization took a decisive step,
perhaps the decisive step, the day when the stranger stopped being an enemy and became
a guest; the day, that is, when the human community was created.
II. A BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF PLEASURE
Many people today are concerned about the apparent incompatability of
religion and modern forms of tourism which seems to be based on hedonism. If
Christians are concerned with the God of everyday living, then God is in fact as
present in the pleasures and playfulness of human life as He is in pain. To do so, they
need to return to the sources of their faith. They need to reinterpret and reassess the
past interpretations which have been handed down to them from their Judeo-Christian
heritage. A first immediate impression is that the biblical text has nothing immediate to
say to their modern dilemma of reconciling religion and pleasure.
However, there are two primary or preliminary points which emerge from a study of the
Bible in relation to the pleasures of everyday life. Firstly, in a general way, eating,
drinking and sexuality are implicitly part of the structure of creation. Food and drink
are fundamental to creation and an essential part or aspect of God's creativity and the

giftedness of the world (Psalm 145:15-16). Even wine, though a product of human
cultivation, is regarded as a gift of God and part of the natural celebration of life which
God's creation calls forth (Psalm 104: 14-15 and Eccl. 10:19) In this sense, both eating
and drinking are linked with hospitality. They signify far more than the satiating of
bodily needs. They stand for community and intimacy, the interlocking of one human
life with another in the bonds of family and friendship.
In the same way, sexuality is linked not just to procreation and the responsibilities
of marriage but also to the joys of intimacy, bodily passion and self transcendence.
Although God transcends the boundaries of gender, nevertheless, sexual
differentiation is an important indication of human likeness to the divine (Genesis
1:26-27). Like its divine counterpart, human life is creative and relational. In this
view, the pleasures of everyday life are revelatory of the divine image. They reflect
the divine energy for life, community and intimacy around which human life is
created and sustained. In this sense, pleasure is implicitly God bearing and God
revealing.
Secondly, human pleasure in regard to eating, drinking and sexuality is not only part
of creation but also part of the symbolic structure of redemption. The symbolism of
the sacred meal points eschatologically to the final fulfilment of God's creation in
the reaffirmation of covenant and community. (Mark 14:25 and I Cor. 11:26)
The riches of hope and its partial realization within human experience is expressed in the
Bible again and again through the images of eating and drinking - images of
extravagance and sumptuousness which reveal the generosity of God's
salvation.[Deut.16:11-12,14-15;Amos 9:13-15; Ezek.47:6-12 ; Joel 3:18; Luke 15:22-24;
John 2:1-11; Acts 14:17-18;II Cor. 9:10].
The Old Testament imagery associated with the Exodus, wilderness, and promised land
is also part of the same symbolism [Exod. 3:7-8; Exod.16; Neh. 9:14; Psalm 78:9;
Psalm 23:5; Deut. 8:7-10]. Food and drink ["a land flowing with milk and honey" in
Exod. 3:8] express the divine consolations for a people once enslaved and oppressed
and now freed. The symbolism reflects the Hebrew view that by enjoying the
pleasures of eating and drinking, one is entering into the full humanity in
community which is the purpose of human life and God's salvation. Here eating and
drinking are closely bound up with notions of covenant. Precisely within these
convenantal activities Isreal as the people of God acknowledges its joyful dependence of
God's beauty, given in creation and renewed in salvation. The renewal of this
covenant relationship with God implies the acknowledgment by God's chosen people
through festival and the pleasures of daily life that "the earth is the Lord's and its
fullness" [Psalm 24:1 and I Cor.10:26].
The pleasure of eating, drinking and sexuality are appropriate images for redemption in
both the Old Testament and the New Testament because they belong to the foundational
structure of creation and have the potential to be God revealing. Moreover, the Bible also
contains a basic affirmation of the body and bodily existence and avoids dualistic

modes of thinking which denigrates the body in favor of the soul. The body is the locus
of revelation and therefore an essential part of God's salvation. In no sense, therefore,
can we derive a negative attitude to the body in the Bible. We cannot hold a
perspective which sees the pleasures of the body as irrelevant or evil. Not only is the
body affirmed in relation to God, eating, drinking and sexuality are also understood as
of value in themselves, with the capacity to symbolize God's salvation.
All this has important implications for the way we live our lives as Christians. A
genuine theology of pleasure takes seriously the creative power of play and is based
on the world as the sphere of God's creative and redemptive activity. This means a
rediscovery of God's gift in creation. It also means a challenge to our ethical
neurosis: the assumption that we honor God's gifts when, and only when, we do not
abuse them by overuse. God's gifts are equally "abused" through neglect and fear. A
theology of pleasure challenges forms of spirituality which identify God only in
suffering and painful human experience. We need to develop a spirituality which sees
play and pleasure as equally God revealing. In the pleasure of eating and drinking, in
the joy of sexual passion, we need to discover the God who is joyful and extravagant,
the God of play and passion, the God of love and celebration. Our caution and timidity as
much as our moralism and hyprocracy need to be challenged by such a spirituality.
III. THE SPECIAL NATURE OF WORK IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
The growth of services is nothing new. As early as 1900 America and Britain both
had more jobs in services than in industry. By 1950 services employed half of all
American workers. America has the biggest service sector, accounting for 72% of its
GDP (The Economist 20 February, 1993, 63). Services are the fastest growing part of
international trade, accounting for 20% of total world trade and 30% of American
exports. Tourism is one of these services. One in every 16 workers world-wide already
owes his or her job to tourism, according to a report by the US-based Wharton
Econometric Forecasting Associates. According to the report, travel and tourism is the
largest industry in the world in terms of employment.
Work in the service sector is quite different from that in agriculture or
manufacturing. A service has been described as a "deed, act, or performance" (Berry,
1980, 24). Two functional issues are: at whom (or what) is the act directed, and is this
act tangible or intangible in nature? These two questions result in a four-way
classification scheme involving (1) tangible actions to people's bodies, such as airline
transportation, haircutting and surgery; (2) tangible actions to goods and other physical
possessions, such as air freight, lawn mowing and janitorial services; (3) tangible
actions directed at people's minds, such as broadcasting and education; and (4)
intangible actions directed at people's intangible assets, such as insurance, investment
banking and consulting. (Lovelock, 1998,47)
This categorization scheme is useful in helping to answer the following questions
related to the analysis and marketing of services. Does the customer need to be
physically present: throughout service delivery? only to initiate or terminate the service

transaction? or not at all? Does the customer need to be mentally present during the
service delivery? Can mental presence be maintained across physical distances through
mail or electronic communications? In what ways is the target of the service act
"modified" by the receipt of the service? And how does the customer benefit from
these "modifications"?
Especially in the tourism sector where services are created as they are consumed and
the customer is often actually involved in the production process, there is broad scope for
tailoring the service to meet the needs of individual customers. Customization can
proceed along at least two dimensions. The first concerns the extent to which the
characteristics of the service and its delivery system lend themselves to
customization. The second relates to how much judgment customer contact personnel are
able to exercise in defining the nature of the service received by individual customers.
Some service concepts are quite standardized while other services offer customers a
wide choice of options.
There is a class of services that not only involves a high degree of customization but
also requires customer contact personnel to exercise judgment concerning the
characteristics of the service and how it is delivered to each customer. This type of
service is called prescriptive and the focus of control shifts from the user to the
supplier. Professional services such as law, medicine, accounting, architecture and tour
guiding fall within this category. They are all white collar "knowledge industries,"
requiring extensive training to develop the requisite skills and judgment needed for
satisfactory service delivery. As a result of this fact, much of the literature on the service
industry refers to this encounter between the customer and the service contract personnel
as "the moment of truth" because it in fact determines the level of customer satisfaction.
IV. THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION OF HOSPITALITY
Showing effective kindness toward the stranger has its ultimate foundation in the
simple fact that we all belong to the one human race. The bond thus created was a
natural expression in societies which were struggling for survival at a purely
subsistence level or only precariously (food, lodging, security) for simple survival. The
host made an investment for a better future where he could, if needs be, find the same
welcoming reception either from the present guest or from the society as a whole to
whose system of hospitality he was obliged. In this situation, hospitality was
grounded in the basic needs of survival and those needs could be answered only in
dependency on others.
Today beneath the layers of cultural deposit in any modern society there are cultural
interactions in the hospitality industry which can be the channels of God's giftedness
to creation, His presence, sacraments of the vivifying Spirit of God of Life. In the
early Church, there were countless sacraments and no doubt hospitality was one of them.
Already in the Old Testament hospitality took on this spiritual dimension: "Show care
and concern for the stranger just as God shows for you". The Cosmos is the house of
God; all are guests in it [Mt. 5:45]. We are all on an exodus through the same desert,

washed and refreshed by the same Spirit, depending on each other for true existence
and where the stranger is simply a friend in the making. In that Old Testament desert
situation, should host and guest be enemies, the practice of Old Testament
hospitality then involved reconciliation: there was a oneness, an atonement. Today,
Christians worthy of the name are messengers of that same at-one-ment. Moreover, in
the Old Testament times the guest was sacred and the host had to put himself out for
him or her, even to endangering the lives of his own family. Christianity by no means
abrograted this aspect of hospitality.
In chapter 18 of the Book of Genesis Abraham was rewarded by God in an unforseen
and deserving manner with the annunciation of the miraculous birth of a child who
would inherit the divine promises which God made to the patriarch and which would
inaugurate the history of the salvation of the world. Other Old Testament texts confirm
the practice of hospitality and the Law of Moses turns it into a commandment
with a precise justification: Isreal must be generous towards the stranger because the
people of God had also been a stranger in the land of Egypt where the inhospitality of
Pharaoh had been severely punished and in imitation of her God who "loves the
sojourner, giving him food and clothing" (Deut. 10:18-19 cf. Exod. 22:20 and Lev.
19:34).
One of the famous characters in the Bible, Job, in claiming to be the unjust victim of
misfortune, urges among other things his irreproachable hospitality as a proof of his
integrity. The pious Tobit, likewise, reserved a tenth of his produce for the benefit of
strangers (Tobit 1:8). Even if the theme is not explicitly utilized to recommend the virtues
of hospitality, God himself is presented in the Bible as the perfect host of those who
seek refuge in his tent, his "house", his temple. For Moslems, too, the pilgrim to
Mecca is the "guest of God".
4.1 Hospitality in the Ministry of Jesus
When after 30 years of silent life concealed in Nazareth, Jesus began his public
ministry, he chose to live in a condition of having to rely on other people's aid and
hospitality [Mt. 27:55 and Mark 15:40-41] Mary felt honored to offer him
hospitality. Jesus also experienced the condition of being an unwelcome guest [ Luke
2:7 in Bethlehem] and on his lost pilgrimage to Jerusalem by a village of Samaritans [
Luke 9:52-56]. At Capernaum Jesus was a habitual guest in the house of the brothers
Peter and Andrew his Apostles. The Gospel of Luke [Luke 10:38-42] has preserved for
use the delightful gospel "interior" in the episode of Martha and Mary. A large part
of the Gospel message is in fact placed in the context of the practice of hospitality
from the marriage feast of Cana to the last Passover. Hospitality is offered to Christ by
friends and benefactors. In the majestic vision of the Last Judgement [Matthew Chap.
25] Jesus says that man's eternal destiny depends, too, on the real charity he has
bestowed on those in need, including the stranger. The teaching of Christ attaches
great importance, in particular, to the hospitality given to gospel workers [John 13:19 ,
Mt. 10:40-42 and Mt. 10:9-15].

A first reading of the gospels would seem to indicate that Jesus in his ministry was
noted mainly for his miracles. Others, however, suggest that that which marked Jesus
off from other Jewish teachers of his time was precisely his attitude toward meals or
his "table ministry". Jesus deliberately shared his table with all sorts of people; no
one was excluded. He seems to have intentionally disregarded fasting and this is a
prophetic act, for theological reasons. Through his attitudes toward meals, he was
telling us something about God and His Kingdom and what it means to belong to it.
Jesus was a wandering charismatic messenger of the Good News. As such, he had no
home and was therefore frequently a guest. In Luke 7:36 there is a dinner at the house
of Simon the Pharisee. [Also Mark 2:15 ff ; Mark 14:3 ff.] He lodged with his friends
Lazarus, Martha and Mary [Luke 10:38 ff] and even spent the day with Zacheus, the
tax collector [Luke 19:5 ff] and tax collectors were always mentioned in the same
breath with sinners. He seems to have often been associated with marginal cases. No
doubt the early Church has somehow idealized these stories about Jesus and they
obviously reflect the actual practice of that Church itself. Yet the earliest strata of the
New Testament text indicate quite firmly that Jesus did truly associate with such
people. Not only did he associate with them and share their food but he also became
their friend. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom is truly present; it is the gift of
God's abundance for everyone. No one is excluded; all are invited to the fullness of
community life, to the banquet and this abundance is encountered in the ministry of
Jesus.
Why did Jesus deliberately choose this prophetic act of feasting to proclaim the
Kingdom and not some other more "respectable" way which would be acceptable to
the people of his time? Jesus was deliberately counteracting the common Jewish
religious practice of fasting. This practice was closely connected to the prayer life of the
Jews. It was almost considered to be a way of convincing God to be merciful, this God
who had retreated to his heavenly sanctuary to the extent that he was practically beyond
hearing. Hence, fasting was a plea for God to return once more to his people. Then Jesus
appears on the scene and steps all over this hallowed practice of fasting by
proclaiming a feast, the kingdom banquet. In this way he shouted from the rooftops
that God had returned to his people, to all of his people, just and sinner alike. In fact,
the party was especially for the outcast, for the compassion of God is boundless; his
reckless mad love goes beyond human standards and requirements. Thus we can see
that work in the hospitality industry rather than being contrary to our Christian beliefs
does in fact have the potential for continuing God's work on earth.
In conclusion, Christian hospitality, though placed in a wider historical, social and
religious context we have briefly mentioned, has therefore a new motivation, spurred by
the good news of Christ. It may be said that the practice of hospitality becomes a key
means of evangelization. This explains why love for the stranger and hospitality
are considered as the most "official" manifestation of the charity enjoined by Christ and
of which he himself gave a conclusive example. The history of the first evangelization is
full of teachings and examples [ Mt. 18:24-28 ; I Cor. 1:12 ; I Cor. 3:4-6 ; I Cor. 3:21-
22 and Titus 3:13] In the course of time, the conditions of society and real situations

can change, but the substance of Christian sentiment and duty cannot change; charity
cannot grow cold or be extinguished because it is that love which Christ revealed to
the world and which makes Christians the "salt of the earth' and the "light of the
world" [Mt. 5:13-14] in the ebb and flow of an ever mobile humanity.
V. DIMENSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY OF WORK FOR
HOSPITALITY PROFESSIONALS
To develop models of spirituality it is necessary to select criteria for
differentiation. This selection is always arbitrary, however. It establishes the
parameters by which the models are distinguished. Here the criteria will be
"attitudes" toward two potential loci for expressions: the world (including human
history and institutions) and history (especially change and conversion). We can
determine the models by the following question. Does a spirituality view the world
and/or history as a positive locus for expressions of the authentic? If a spirituality is
negative toward both we call it apophatic; if it is positive toward both, we call it
apostolic; if it is positive toward the world but not toward history, we call it city-of-God;
and if its is positive toward history but not toward the world we call it prophetic. One
must not adhere to these models too rigorously. They are examples to illustrate the
tendencies of their respective models to a marked degree; but most spiritualities are
mixtures of all four, with perhaps one or more predominating. A genuine
spirituality of work for hospitality professionals must clearly be apostolic.
5.1 A Sense of Vocation and Mission
What all Christians hope to do in their spiritual lifes is to continue the mission of
Jesus. Throughout the history of Christianity, that mission has appropriated a multitude
of expressions involving a wide spectrum of activities and ministries. A ministry or
profession is a specific activity or what we do. Mission provides meaning and direction
to that activity. For our activity to be truly Christian, it must reflect in some way the life
and work of Jesus of Nazareth. Hospitality professionals continue the mission of Jesus,
in particular their mission of loving service to those in need, a central work of Jesus.
In Christian life, professional work or ministry is often spoken of as continuing the
mission of Jesus the teacher, preacher, servant, prophet, shepherd, priest and
peacemaker. Hospitality professionals also perform many of these services.
There are many qualities of life rooted in the example of Jesus and three basic qualities
are reflective of Jesus' life of hospitable service to others: responsiveness, competence
and respect. Underlying Jesus' desire to serve those in need were sensitivity,
adaptability and willingness that are today basic building blocks for an apostolic
spirituality of hospitality. Sensitivity to the situation at hand is essential if a hospitality
professional's response is to be effective. Adaptability to the situation as it changes is also
essential if their response is to be appropriate. Willingness to be involved is essential if
their response is to be consistent. Ultimately, the driving force behind this
responsiveness is compassion which is not the same as pity. The true core of
compassion is the urgency to act. Compasssion never merely observes; it initiates and

interacts. In Jesus' work, compassion is second only to love. When personal benefit
becomes the primary goal of service in the hospitality industry then this
compassion gives way to conceit.
Competence shapes the overall effectiveness of our response. However sensitive,
adaptable and willing that response may be, its lasting effect must reflect competence.
Service industries require a competence that is quite different from that in
agricultural or manufacturing work. Two realities that touch competence are involved
in the hospitality industry: material variables and personal variables. Material
variable differ among the various aspects of the hospitality industry but they generally
include some common elements. Firstly, there is a body of living knowledge in so
far as new information replaces old on a regular basis. We use the work "living" in the
sense of growing and at least changing. Secondly, there are natural or acquired skills
which enable hospitality professionals to use that knowledge. Thirdly, there are the
willingness, capacity and commitment to acquire new and refined skills to match
developments within the field of knowledge now called hospitality, leisure or
tourism studies. Finally, there are necessary resources of whatever kind which make it
possible for hospitality professionals to use skills with knowledge. This is the variable
over which they very often have the least control. The amount of time and energy it
takes to develop and maintain competence is directly proportional to the amount of
change within these material variables. In the hospitality professions those
variables change regularly, if not continously. Thus, maintaining competence in
terms of the material variables demands a great deal of time and energy.
A hospitality professional's sense of competence is also affected by personal variables.
These variables include the personalities, preferences and predicaments of those whom
they serve. Unfortunately, material variables often become ineffective when personal
variables resist modification. While personal variables do not render a hospitality
professional incompetent, they can create that feeling and give that perspective. The
driving force of competence is justice rooted in human dignity. Whatever compromises
human dignity is an injustice. There is also the justice of preparation. This means the
informed readiness of the hospitality professional. They must know what they can and
cannot do. They must not compromise the welfare of others by attempting anything they
know little or nothing about. Respect is characterized by a hospitality professional's
recognition of each person's uniqueness. It is their affirmation of the dignity of each
person, a dignity based in their creation as God's image and likeness as well as their
efforts to listen, communicate and interact through ways and means consistent with that
uniqueness and dignity. Work in the hospitality industry brings them to encounters and
interactions with people. Respect reminds them that regardless of what they have to do in
the work of hospitality, the value of a human being can never be compromised. The
driving force of respect is love. Since according to Christianity God is an incarnational
God, their ways and means of dealing with others are primary components for their
transformation into the likeness of Jesus and, ultimately, for their salvation.
5.2 A Sense of Community with Fellow Hospitality Professionals

Hospitality professionals do not in fact continue their work of Christian hospitality
alone. They need and should draw on the support of others, just as others need and draw
on their support. The primary components will thus be their continuing relationship
with the Lord and their friends. This is especially important during times of feeling
alienated from their working group in a large, impersonal institution of hospitality
such as a hotel, restaurant or travel agency. There is no magic formula and no generic
solution here. There is always the possibility that some fellow workers will feel
threatened by and envious of the excellence of their colleagues. In some sense they
cannot take responsibility for others' feelings and attitudes. They should be happy with
what they are and do. A measure of self acceptance is needed. Awareness of and
fidelity to their responsibilities is a healthier approach and safeguard against
reactions and judgments based on misunderstanding, jealousy, mistrust, lack of
information and poor communication.
Christian professions in the hospitality industry also needs to be in vertical relationship
with the Lord. Work, prayer and relations with their fellow employees draw time and
energy from the same pool. Thus it is not uncommon for hospitality profession to have
difficulty putting adequate levels of desire and effort into their prayer and spiritual life.
There are four very practical means for developing and maintaining a relationship with
the Lord in the midst of their professional demands.
1. Believe - Specifically, they must believe that the Lord is present and active in
their daily work.
2. Pray - Specifically, they must pray as they can, not as they cannot. They need
realistic expectations.
3. Relax - Specifically, they must place a high priority on practicing relaxation.
One problem is that many hospitality professionals make taking care of themselves a
low priority. Relaxation is a means for developing and maintaining a relationship
with the Lord.
4. Revel - Specifically, they must recall frequently the joy of providing service to
those in need and the experiences of new life that happen in the hospitality profession.
They net to take the time to revel in these positive experiences and rejoice that they
flow from the professional skills alone they bring to their work. They must recall and
bring to prayer times of light, joy and triumph.
5.3 The Role of the Cross in Work in the Hospitality Industry
It is inevitable that they will encounter the cross in their professional hospitality
work. The challenge for them is to make friends with it. The alternative is that they
will lose their ability to laugh and smile as well as know and share joy or that they will
live the fantasy and pretense that there is no pain and suffering in their world. Many are
the ways in which their professional work brings them directly and possibly regularly
into contact with the cross. These include things like the never ending, monotonous

and boring cycle of repeating services, various legal considerations and ethical
implications related to work in the hospitality industry as well as shifting expectations
and emotions involved in moving from one customer to another. A full array of
emotions and expertise must be tapped in dealing with routine work, minor problems,
unexpected crises and the normal stresses and strains of a high profile professional life.
Other areas where the cross may be encountered are the ineffectiveness of their
support system when people close to them do not seem to understand or care about
them as persons; when we feel neglected or forgotten; when we feel powerless in
dealing with situations and complaining or highly critical customers that cannot be
helped or served properly because of limited resources or undeveloped technology.
These are a taste of the inevitability of encounters with the cross. Unfortunately,
hospitality professionals do not have the privilege of being discouraged in their work.
We must be people who communicate hope - not hope for achieving the impossible but
genuine hope in human goodness and beauty given to them by a Creator God who loves
them regardless of their own experiences or the experiences of those they serve.
Acknowledging their pain to themselves and others is no panacea but it is a partial
safeguard against communicating discouragement and hopelessness in their work.
Facilitating this acknowledgement is one of the important functions of their support
system.
For every Christian, the cross is a teacher, though not a particularly popular one. By
faith, Christians know that the cross is the means to resurrection; it reflects the example
Jesus left for his followers. The cross challenges hospitality professionals to decide
what meaning and values they will place on their own experience of the cross. The
teachings of the cross are simple but extensive. Firstly, the cross teaches Christian
hospitality professionals that they are not absolutely independent; they need the Lord
and they need each other. Secondly, the cross teaches they compassion which enables
them to understand the suffering of others. The power of the cross enables them to be
people of hope. They should be people of hope because, in the hospitality industry,
behavior of professionals may be one of the few signs of hope a person experiences. If
they can be people of hope, then they can also be a people of joy.
5.4 A Love Center Spirituality
Many authors writing about spirituality now present the Christian life as centered on
the theme of God's call and a person's response. This "call-response" morality and
spirituality replace the former stress on law and self-perfection. In the basic meaning
of grace, God's self-gift, God gives Himself to people and acts in them, enabling
them to respond. Furthermore, New Testament teachings hold the primacy over all
other virtues of the one virtue of charity directed toward God and neighbor. The
law-centered approach to spirituality has thus given way to a love-centered approach:
life is to be seen in its entirety as a loving response to a personal and loving God. A
morality of relationship conceived along these lines sees each person in dialogue with
God and meeting God in the events, people and prayer experiences of daily living. Such

a mentality and spirituality is particularly appropriate for the hospitality
professional.
Withing this framework, Christian life and spirituality are a continuous conversion to
God through one's free and full disposal of himself or herself. This occurs at a
profound level of the human person and becomes manifest in acts which may reveal,
though they sometimes hide, his or her actual inner state. This is consistent with the
biblical notion of gradual yet continuing conversion to God and the neighbor; it avoids
the artificiality of the division of the spiritual life into the purgative, illuminative and
unitive ways. Furthermore, the open-endedness of conversion to a lifetime of
development cuts against merely "getting by" in minimalistic interpretation of
Christian life and allows more of a positive dynamic emphasis.
The mistaken notion that natural human features such as emotions, sexuality, humor, a
vibrant personality and a keen sense of joy do not have much of a place in a supernatural
world has to be done away with. Christian spirituality should instead acknowledge the
goodness of all that is human. Emotions, sexuality, temperament, personality and the
prayer life should enter into the Christian response of the whole person.
Development and fulfillment of these truly human aspects should be incorporated into
any authentic approach to the Christian spirituality of work in the hospitality
industry.Building the kingdom of justice, peace, harmony and love should not simply
be relegated to the afterlife. Spirituality should also take the challenge of the future
kingdom to concern ourselves with human beings in their present-day strivings and
problems. That God may be found at the deepest point of the human and that other
persons, events and nature itself reveal God to the believer's eye are the sorts of
emphases which apply directly to an updated spirituality for the hospitality
professional. Discernment must focus on central questions such as: How might they
serve the world in profound love? How might they enter into a dynamic relationship
with people and not be unduly separated from them?
A spirituality for the hospitality industry based on personal response to God in Christ,
through the action of the Holy Spirit, replaces a spirituality founded on a morality of
law and of individual acts. The concerns evidenced in the following questions should
become more central in the person's spirituality: Is life becoming a YES to God? Is the
person choosing more and more to reach out to God and to others selflessly, after the
pattern of God's own Son? Is the person gradually gaining the sense of giving himself or
herself to the action of the Holy Spirit from within, relying on His guidance in a spirit of
freedom and joy? Because Christian holiness implies personal response to a loving God,
leading to genuine a relationship with Him, it rules our a merely instinctual approach to
the spiritual life.
Spirituality has important consequences for the overall tone or mood which
hospitality professionals adopt in their lives. Such a person is in fact an intense cell of
vibrant Christian life. They witness to heavenly values which implies that
hospitality professionals should show by their lives what faith in God can mean: hope,

confidence, optimism in ultimate destinies; faith and charity in everyday concerns. In
moving away from an excessively bureaucratic, obedience-centered approach, they
should replace it with a Christian life and spirituality centered on faith, love, hope in
God and in ultimate realities, manifested in the love and service of human kind. These
constitute gospel values that should characterize a renewed professional life and
genuinely Christian spirituality.
VI. CONCLUSION
The work environment will color a person's thoughts, determine their habits,
crystallize their attitudes, facilitate or inhibit physical and mental health, increase or
decrease the effectiveness of their general social adjustment. If work in the hospitality
industry is to be a significant means of becoming fully oneself, two aspects must be
recognized (namely, the objective reality and the subjective reality) and two definitive
actions must be taken (namely, the initial choice and its accomplishment). The objective
reality is that vast block of work to be done, namely, the increasing needs of society
and the Church as seen in the hospitality industry. The subjective reality is the person's
energy and talent, one's temperament, background and natural interests.
For if any human being is to reach full maturity but especially in the hospitality industry,
there must be a genuine synthesis between both the masculine (animus) and the
feminine (anima) dimension of human life. As the hospitality industy is presently
organized, a person must take on some duties ordinarily done by either sex. Many of the
work situations provides ideal situations for combining anima and animus traits. The
feminine traits are subjectivity, sympathy, tenderness and understanding. The
masculine traits are objectivity, courage, cooperation, dependability and justice.
Therefore, most hospitality professionals should be able to discover work suited to a
holistic development of self.
Above all else, work in the hospitality industry is other centered because
customer satisfaction is how it measures its effectiveness. Hospitality means
primarily the creation of a space where the stranger can enter and become a friend
instead of an enemy. It is not an attempt to change people but to offer the free space
where change can take place. It is not a technique to bring men and women over to
one's side, but to offer freedom undisturbed by dividing lines. The paradox of hospitality
is that it wants to create emptiness - not a fearful emptiness, but a friendly emptiness
where strangers can enter and discover themselves as created free. Hospitality is not a
subtle invitation to adopt the life style of the host but the gift of a chance to allow the
guest to find his own. (HN3)
It is a pity that in the language of modern (especially industrial and postindustrial)
society the word "hospitality" has lost most of its power. It may take some
extra effort to give new life to the ancient concept of hospitality. It asks for very
hard concentration and very articulate work. Indeed more often than not, rivalry and
competition, desire for power and immediate results, impatience and frustration, but
most of all plain fear make their forceful demands and tend to fill up every possible

empty corner of life in modern society. "Being busy" has even become a status symbol
and most people keep encouraging each other to keep their bodies and minds in
constant motion. For example, a hospitality professional often feels that he or she has
to talk all the time to his or her customer and entertain them with things to do and
places to visit. But by filling up every empty corner and occupying every empty time
this hospitality becomes more oppressing than revealing.
The challenge of the spirituality of work in the hospitality industry is to help
professionals who work there to find genuine meaningfulness in that work so that they
experience the peace and joy that God has prepared for them. As Pope John Paul II
reminds us in his encyclical entitled Laborem Exercens, " work is a good thing for man -
a good thing for his humanity - because through work man not only transforms nature,
adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and
indeed in a sense becomes 'more a human being'" [9]. This is certainly true in the
hospitality industry.