Recalling the conversion of the Ninivites after the preaching of Jonah, Pope Francis implored God so we may receive the gift of tears, which is the gift of God’s mercy that transforms the heart from within. His homily in Ciudad Juarez was a call for us not to forget that immigration today is mostly forced, where thousands leave their homeland due to poverty and violence. The Pope expressed a desire not to forget the human tragedy that immigration is today.
Below is my quick translation of what I believe is the heart of his homily, words spoken directly to a city plagued by violence, drugs, and where thousands wait for a better future just a few yards further north. Mass began after he blessed a cross that overlooks the border.
“Here in Ciudad Juarez, as well as in other border areas, thousands of immigrants gather from Central America, other countries, as well as so many Mexicans who seek to cross to the other side. It is a journey full of terrible injustices, enslavement, kidnappings, and extortion. Many of our brothers and sisters are the fruit of human trafficking. We cannot deny the humanitarian crisis that the past few years of immigration has signified, as thousands of people migrate be it by train, road, or by foot, crossing hundreds of kilometers. This human tragedy that is forced immigration is a global phenomenon. This crisis that may be measured in numbers, we want to measure with names, stories and families. These are brothers and sisters who are expelled due to poverty, violence, drug-trafficking and organized crime. Faced by a lack of legal measures, there is a web that entraps and always destroys the poorest. They not only suffer from poverty, but they must also suffer all these kinds of violence. This is an injustice found more among the young who are persecuted and threatened when they attempt to separate themselves from violence and the hell that are drugs. And what can I say about the many women who have unjustly lost their lives!
Let us ask our God for the gift of conversion, for the gift of tears. Let us ask him that we may have an open heart like the Ninivites. No more death and exploitation! There is always time to change, there is always a way out, an opportunity, there is always an opportunity to implore God’s mercy.”
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