2. Understanding Mercy in the Context of Exile
Refugees have suffered grave social ills and effects of structural sin of which they are victims in a variety of ways. My focus will therefore be how refugees as victims of structural sin understand and approach mercy. How is mercy to be practiced in the context of forced migration? Pope Francis has eloquently reminded us in Misericordiae Vultus, that welcoming the stranger is one of the corporal works of mercy, along with feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, healing the sick, visiting the imprisoned and burying the dead.[7] Too often refugees find themselves in all these situations, including detention and imprisonment for no fault of theirs, except that they are escaping from violence in search of a better and safer place. While in detention many experience hunger, thirst, cold, and lack medical attention, and a decent burial. Corporal works of mercy call us to embrace God who overcomes “rejection with compassion and mercy.”[8] Sadly, we live in a world where refugees are facing enormous rejection through increasing border controls, stringent immigration laws, and insensitive government directives driven by political expediency rather than compassion. People fleeing their homes in search of safety yearn for hospitality and compassion, not hostility and rejection. Rejection demeans their human dignity, while hostility traumatizes. Compassion and mercy towards refugees affirm their humanity and instill hope in them.
However, as mentioned, we must overcome the temptation of turning refugees into objects of mercy. The experience of mercy expressed by Chantal in the story above did not come about as a result of her sense of worthlessness andguilt over sin. Rather, she felt loved unconditionally. The experience invited her, along with others in a spirit of prayer, to respond to a call to serve others compassionately by offering what she hadfreely received. Prayerful reflection on God’s many gifts to Chantal led her and her colleagues to the realization of God’s unmerited mercy. They came to appreciate the fact that mercy is a gift, not a reward. My understanding of mercy from the experience of Chantal, one that I propose that we work with in this essay, is that mercy is God’s unmerited gift to us, which, to use Kaitholil’s words, “does all that is urged by kindness and love.”[9] Understanding mercy in this way will lead us to interiorly savor how much we have been loved and therefore how much we ought to love.
Chantal’s experience of mercy and a reflection upon her experience led her to an understanding of how God works, and elicited an active response to serve the needy. In this sense, mercyitself became an act of mercy. Refugees opened their hearts and started to act compassionately towards fellow refugees in dire need. The catechist’s doubt about the rationale for giving freely was transformed positively and actively by a deeper understanding of God’s mercy as unmerited gift: “We have received so much and can offer so much.” It is important to start from the refugees’ experience of mercy so as not to fall into the temptation of simply perceiving and stereotyping refugeesas mere objects of mercy.
We must come to the realization that refugees can and do play “a more active role of… being the agents of mercy rather than mere recipients of it.”[10] Like every human person, refugees know what it means to be merciful and compassionate. Pope Francis’ letter, Misericordiae Vultus, is equally addressed to them, wishing them “grace, mercy and peace.”[11] From my experience of working closely with refugees, I strongly believe that,given what they have gone through and what they continue to experience on a regular basis, refugees have a deeper understanding of God’s mercy and compassionate love. Although the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy invited us to experience God’s mercy in order to be as merciful as our heavenly father is merciful, it is important to avoid the temptation to focus our attention onsearching for people as objects of mercy rather than experiencing mercy at work within and among us. The outcome of such an extroverted approach is to understand mercyexclusively in humanitarian terms. Mercy becomes a humanitarian intervention – doings acts of mercy. Important as they are, works of mercy must spring from the experience of being loved mercifully and unconditionally. This is what empowered Chantal and her fellow refugees to act with compassion towards their other refugees in Nduta camp.
Pope Francis’s Misericordiae Vultuswas addressed to everyone. Included in his audience are people who have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge elsewhere. Forced migrants are people with flesh and blood. They too struggle with sin, they hurt others even as they themselves are hurt;they need to ask for mercy even as they desire to act with compassion towards other people whom they encounter or live with. They need to be liberated from resentment and grudges arising from so much oppression suffered in their countries of origin and in exile. Mesfin, a 24 year old refugee from Eritrea, comes to mind for he says, “Every religion says you should love all people and that you should never treat others poorly. Religious texts say that if we follow God’s order and love one another, then we will be granted Mercy. We, as refugees, need the world’s Mercy.”[12]
[7] Misericordiae Vultus, no. 15.
[8] Misericordiae Vultus, no. 9.
[9] Kaitholil, 9.
[10] Joseph Lobo, Mercy and Justice, 38.
[11] These are Pope Francis’ prayerful wishes to all who read the letter, Misericordiae Vultus.
[12] Jesuit Refugee Service Eastern Africa, Artists in Motion: Illustrations of Perilous Journeys-Art for Change by Eritrean Refugees, July 2016.