By Deacon Marlowe Sabater
Special to the Herald
The Vatican declared the second Sunday of July as Sea Sunday, dedicated to bringing to the heart of the church the recognition of the hard work and sacrifices of the people who work on the ocean and are often overlooked by society.
In his July 13 message, Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny, the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said, “the whole Church is called to consider how people work in ports and on ships today, with what rights, under what conditions of safety, with what material and spiritual assistance.”
He encouraged the faithful to “shine some light on what lies behind our economies, on those who make them work on a daily basis, often not benefiting from them at all and indeed exposing themselves to discrimination and danger.”
“We are consequently brothers and sisters,” Cardinal
Czerny said in his message. “We come from the same home, and we are returning to the same home: a homeland without borders or customs, where there are no privileges that divide and no injustices that wound.”
The 22 fishermen from the Philippines and Fiji working in the Hawaii longline fishery celebrated Sea Sunday with Mass at Pier 36 in Honolulu presided by Father Manuel Hewe, pastor of the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu, and assisted by Deacon Marlowe Sabater, co-coordinator of the Apostleship of the Sea-Hawaii Ministry.
In his homily, Father Hewe recognized the fishermen for their labor and sacrifices in providing for their families, as well as their contributions to the community and local economy. “Lahat tayo ay nagsasakripisyo dahil tayo ay nagmamahal (‘We all make sacrifices because we love’),” he said.
This aligns with the call to love our neighbor as ourselves, found in the Gospel reading for Sea Sunday, which tells the story of the Good Samaritan.
The Sea Sunday celebration continued with a fellowship dinner hosted by the Women’s Group from Resurrection of the Lord Church in Waipio, assisted by the co-cathedral’s Social Ministry. They prepared a hearty feast of various favorite dishes from the fishermen’s home countries. The groups provided gift bags for the fishermen containing work clothes, toiletries and various items needed for their lives on the ship, and the fishers also received fresh vegetables.
“Pinagpala kami na nakapagsimba ka na, may hapunan ka pa, tapos may regalo ka pa iuuwi (‘We are blessed to have attended the Mass, have dinner and get to take back some gifts’),” one grateful fisherman said.
One member of the Women’s Group, touched by what she witnessed, said: “We are blessed to take part in this ministry on this special occasion. I wasn’t aware of this segment of society that works tirelessly to provide fish for our table.”
The Apostleship of the Sea-Hawaii Ministry answers the call to love our neighbor by providing for their spiritual and material needs. We offer an opportunity for parishioners to get involved in meeting the spiritual needs of our fishermen through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, as well as addressing their physical needs through the sharing of our talents and treasures, such as fellowship, medical check-ups or gift-giving.
We are not only shining a light on what lies behind our economies through the work of our seafarers, but we also shine a light on ourselves to demonstrate how well we are imitating Christ as a Good Samaritan in caring for those in need.
Do you want to come aboard and join or support this ministry? Contact Deacon Sabater by email, mgsabater@rcchawaii.org, or phone, (808) 773-3510.
