By Deacon Marlowe Sabater
Special to the Herald
The Apostleship of the Sea Ministry-Hawaii (AoSMH) sailed the high seas last month with the biggest number yet of longline fishers who attended the Eucharistic celebration of the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Forty-one fishers were at the holy Mass on Nov. 15 as they also observed the ninth World Day of the Poor. Supporting the AoSMH were the Women’s Group from Resurrection of the Lord Church in Waipio, the Social Ministry from the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu and the Knights of Peter Claver and Women’s Auxiliary.
Blessed Sacrament Father Robert Stark, director of the diocesan Office for Social Ministry, celebrated the Mass, assisted by Deacon Marlowe Sabater and Deacon Ray Lamb of the co-cathedral.
The World Day of the Poor shines a light on the different forms of poverty and the call to all Catholics to love the poor as our brothers and sisters. Bishop Timothy Senior of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, said in a statement last month, “World Day of the Poor is an invitation for us to pray and to act, to build a world that truly recognizes the God-given dignity of our brothers and sisters who are most vulnerable.”
The AoSMH ministers to vulnerable seafarers at piers 36-38 in Honolulu by forming a community that supports their spiritual, emotional, relational and material needs. Our seafarers face a different kind of poverty, one that cuts deeper than financial uncertainties. It is a poverty that deprives them of recognition for their essential role in the state’s food security and the sacrifice they have to make by being separated from their families to earn a decent living.
Referring to the Psalm that Sunday — “Let the sea and what fills it resound, the sea world and those who dwell in it… The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice” — Father Stark, in his homily, said: “We come this evening to give thanks for you and your work, because you live and work in the sea… we come to celebrate with you, to thank God and you for providing us with the blessings from the sea.”
We recognize the dignity of seafarers’ work and affirm their importance in feeding our communities, while also monitoring their conditions to ensure their well-being.
After the seafarers’ souls were fed through the table of the Word and the altar of sacrifice in the Eucharist, the Mass was followed by fellowship sponsored by the ROL Women’s Group and the co-cathedral’s Social Ministry. The groups brought together a delicious supper at which parishioners served the food, and the fishers lined up for a potluck buffet.
Parishioners also brought supplies that fishers need, such as toiletries, shirts, pants, slippers and shorts. The seafarers picked from the piles of supplies placed on a table and on mats on the ground.
It was by divine providence that two days earlier, on Nov. 13, Pope Leo XIV officially recognized the Apostleship of the Sea to promote the pastoral care for the “people of the sea.” According to the chirograph and statutes approved by the Holy Father, the Apostleship of the Sea “is established as the coordinating body of the Work of the Apostleship of the Sea, as a public canonical juridical person.”
What does this mean for our ministry here in Hawaii? It means we are now part of a larger network of those who minister to the “people of the sea,” under a governing structure supported by the Vatican through the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
The AoSMH has grown from a dozen volunteers at a single parish with 11 fishermen attending the first Mass to more than 50 volunteers from four parishes and 41 fishermen attending the 13th Mass. The pope’s recognition of the work of the Apostleship of the Sea increases the ministry’s momentum as we continue to expand and reach more seafarers, bringing Jesus Christ to the center of what they do as stewards of God’s creation.
Do you want to come aboard and join or support this ministry? Contact Deacon Marlowe Sabater by email at mgsabater@rcchawaii.org or call (808) 773-3510.
Deacon Marlowe Sabater is coordinator of the Apostleship of the Sea Ministry-Hawaii based at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu.
Forty-one longline fishermen observed the ninth World Day of the Poor Nov. 15 by attending Mass at piers 36-38 in Honolulu. (Courtesy Deacon Marlowe Sabater)