"People do not need much from us. Actually, they require very little - simple caring really - yet that seems to be more than we have to give."

"'Listen to me.' This is the primal call of the human heart."

"'We are here to be God's presence with you'."

"Hospitality is a way to help others discover their true selves. They need to see that precious person reflected in your eyes sometimes, before they can believe it for themselves. It is no easy thing to give this to other people."

"Listen when people talk. It is impossible to exaggerate the number of people who never feel heard, even by friends, family, or spouse."

"It is possible to serve meals in a nursing home, to cook in a homeless shelter, or to read stories to children at an inner-city library and never let others into your heart. It is possible to do the good thing and end up feeling satisfied with yourself and even just a bit superior. It is possible to do the good thing and not be changed for the better by it. Hospitality includes cooking the meal and reading to the kid, but it demands that you let the people you are serving into your heart. Only in opening yourself wide to another are you transformed by the power of love."

What are the steps a church group can take towards hospitality?

• "An Inner reality/awakening needs to happen first. As a group, as individuals, those who wish to make their community more open to others must become convinced that it is necessary. It's not just a good idea, not just a fine program, but a water and breath kind of necessity."

• "If you must draft a plan in a committee, remember that you are embarking on a journey to love and serve the stranger. Guard against the ease of developing a plan that will speak to your own needs and ambitions, rather than the welcome of your guests. Keep the reality of the difficult stranger ever before you."

• "... hospitality will emerge from the open places we create in our souls. ... You can take all these steps towards hospitality, but if your heart isn't changed, nothing else will really change either."

"We have been awakened to our indifference by the Holy Spirit, and in the process of learning to welcome and care for those who are unlike us, we are on the gospel road."

"... it is typical of religious groups to reach out to persons who have something to bring to their congregation, a contribution to make. Most often when you join a church you're asked to pledge you abilities, time, and resources to support the faith community. As a church, we have become accustomed to viewing our membership in terms of what others can give the local congregation. We actively seek out productive, contributing members of our community.

But radical hospitality calls us to search for the lost ones, those who have nothing to give us, but who, instead, need something from us."

"Hospitality is at the heart of Christianity. No one has ever been more radically welcoming than Jesus, who was always accused of associating with the wrong kind of people - people we wouldn't want in our living rooms, or next to us worshipping."

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