Anouk Grevin's best wishes for the EoC world, on behalf of the whole International Commission
Dear friends of the Economy of Communion,
In a few days we will celebrate Christmas. Lately, whenever I think of what happened on that night 2000 years ago, I think of the hotelier who refused to let Mary in who was about to give birth. And I ask myself: how many times have I too failed to welcome someone in need? How many times, instead of seeing the face of a brother, a sister, do we see a problem, a disturbance, a cost, a burden... Or do we see, above all, our own incapacity, impossibility, inadequacy, the too many other challenges we already have to face, the potential consequences, our priorities, our responsibilities, the rules we have set ourselves to do our work well and which prevent us from taking risks... We have a thousand reasons for not opening ourselves up to the stranger, for not risking the encounter, for not welcoming what could turn out to be a great gift.
Certainly, if he had known who was knocking... I feel so close to that poor hotelier who let the greatest opportunity of his life slip away! And I ask myself: before the next one comes along, how will I react? Will I be able to stop, look him in the eye and ask myself: who are you, presenting yourself before me today? What treasure do you hide behind your smallness, your poverty, your foreign face? If I open my heart, who knows if will not God himself come into my house?
Jesus also told us of another hotelier who, with his business, supported the action of one who had known how to 
make himself close to a wounded man and had healed him with love. And who knows what kind of relationship will have been born from the proximity between the hotelier and the wounded man, what kind of experience of communion they will have lived together, how much that man will have helped the entrepreneur in turn and will have led him to change his outlook on his business...
The economy often excludes the poorest, but it is also capable of being an instrument of proximity, a hand to heal, a welcoming home for those in need. Businesses are not necessarily the cold realm of interest, they can be the warm space of welcome, of proximity, of fraternity. And perhaps even, sometimes, cradles for artisans of peace.
We wish you all a Christmas that will rekindle in us, in our families, in our companies, in our employees, and in all those who approach us, the love and strength to be bearers of peace and hope for so many.
Anouk Grevin with the whole EoC International Commission
Credits foto: © Mària Čalfovà
