Morning Star
April-June 2008: Come, Follow Me!

A Message from the National Director, Deacon Albert Dacanay

Peace of Christ!

Our theme for this edition is about following Jesus. But what does it really mean to “follow” Jesus? A teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus simply answered: "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He was trying to explain to Him – ‘You see all these people and it is easy to say you want to follow me now but tonight when all these people go home I will be alone and without a place to sleep. Will you still follow me then?

If we really have to look deeper – there are a number of unsettling truths that will surface in examining what it means to follow Jesus. Whether it is time, family, health, culture, personal belief, problems, pride, the cares of this life, nothing is more important than to follow Jesus. “Follow Me” first is what he says to all of these things. We must leave all things behind and follow Jesus because it is only Him who could lead us to life itself.

Over the years, I have curiously been asked – how do you spend your time ministering to the seafarers. Just like all other Port Chaplains in the world, we spend most of our time doing our ministry work on board the ship. In the past, most of the activities are done within the Seafarers Centers (Stella Maris – for the Catholics; Flying Angels – for the Anglicans). At that time, Seafarers Centers, around the world, are always packed.

As technology has improved and developed, there are now less crew members on board the ship, they have shorter stay at ports and the crew has to do more work on board the ship – immensely cutting off their time and energy to go ashore. Most of the Seafarer Centers has all the facilities that the seafarers would need to make them feel at home away from home. A number of seafarers still would visit the Centers where we provide Pastoral Care, but the bulk of activities are done during ship visitation.

To be able to communicate to their families is probably the most anticipated activity for every seafarer. They spend up to nine months away from their wives, children, parents and friends and having the means and capability to talk with them alleviates much of their loneliness and suffering. Seafarer Centers provide access to public phones, computers with internet connections for seafarers as well as telephone cards for them to use. For ship visitors, Chaplains bring along and lend their laptops and cell phones to those seafarers who never have the chance to go ashore. No matter how long the ship will stay in the Port, there will always be crew members on board who needed our presence.

Occasionally there will be requests from seafarers to have mass or communion service on board the ship, blessing of the cabins and other prayer services. But most of the time Chaplains chat with the seafarers in their Mess room…they talk about their family, the life on board, their personal problems and difficulties as well as their joy. We usually spend a couple of hours on board each ship but will stay longer if there are issues of unfair treatment and wage problems.

The ministry to the seafarers is so different from other ministry work. We meet people from around the world. We work as a network with other Chaplains. Each ship that we visit is a unique experience, we do no know what our day will bring, but one thing we all know – is that we are doing all this for the greater glory of God. As the prophet Micah has said: “You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

In this issue, we have the speech of Cardinal Rafael Martino during the Regional Coordinators meeting held in Rome outlining the tasks ahead and the pastoral challenges that AOS faces that were addressed during the XXII AOS World Congress held in Gdynia, Poland. Cardinal Martino likewise provided the Regional Coordinators the inspiration and the support they needed to meet the demands of the ministry.

Deacon Michael Ho has just completed a Trainor’s Ship Welfare Visitors Course held in Panama. He will be duly accredited by the International Committee on Seafarers Welfare (ICSW) as the Official Trainer for all Ship Visitors (for all denominations) in most Ports in Canada. Congratulations to Deacon Michael and we wish you all the best in this added responsibility.

Congratulations to Fr. John Eason, who just celebrated his 40th anniversary as a priest… Let us also keep in our prayers Ann McLevey, wife of Deacon Jim McLevey – Port Chaplain of Halifax, who will undergo a knee replacement soon.

May the blessed mother, the Star of the Sea, be with you always! God bless!

Deacon Albert