By Fr. Philip Shano, SJ
I grew up in a more innocent time, protected by family and the broader community. There must have been many disturbing things happening in the world, but I was not aware of anything causing me to live in fear. I was cared for, had a safe place to live, and enjoyed great relationships with those around me. It was a time when life seemed easier than it does today.
It’s not true for increasing millions of people. Life is complicated enough for people who live in the twenty-first century in the relative comfort of life in the Global North. We have plenty to be anxious about. Most in the Global South have a difficult life experience, and more reasons for anxiety. What about those looking for something as basic as home? What about food and safety? Unless we have firsthand experience, it is impossible to get a real sense of what life is like in a refugee camp or clinging in fear in a crowded boat traveling to the unknown across a dangerous stretch of water. Even virtual reality cannot offer the total experience.
The Psalms offer images of a trustworthy God as a refuge and fortress, one in whom we experience shelter and protection. That image of God offers some comfort to refugees and forcibly displaced persons. But only some comfort! It can lead one to question whether God cares. Many discover that the care and compassion of God is precisely what is offered through Jesuit Refugee Service, a partner of Canadian Jesuits International. Those who benefit experience the human face of the God who offers protection and shelter. God is in the midst of that refugee camp. God’s care is expressed by those who work long hours to address the needs of people.
It helps to remember that Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived as a refugee family fleeing by night to the safety of Egypt. The warning came in a dream that Joseph had. “Get up, take the child and his mother.” There are millions who can relate to a hasty escape, bringing what they can carry over a long journey.
How do people in a refugee camp have a sense of home? They may be surrounded by loving family and friends. Or they may have been separated from all they love. Etty Hillesum was a Dutch Jewish woman executed in Auschwitz. An entry in An Interrupted Life, her writings, offers a clue to the inner strength of people like Etty and contemporary refugees: “We are at home. Under the sky. In every place on earth, if only we carry everything within us … We must be our own country. When we discover that, the capacity for dwelling, wherever we are, becomes ours ...”
Lent offers an annual opportunity for us to take a serious look at our lives. It may be helpful to reflect this year on trying to put myself in the place of a refugee, to imagine their story and what the reality does to their human spirit. What style of life do I take for granted? How can I more closely connect with refugees?
Fr. Philip Shano, SJ, has been a Jesuit since 1978. He has extensive experience teaching, giving retreats, and writing in the area of Ignatian spirituality. He is a member of the Jesuit Community in Guelph and serves on the CJI Board of Directors.
