My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate the 31st National Seafarers’ Day and the 40th National Migrants’ Sunday, my heart turns with gratitude and prayer to our Filipino seafarers and migrant workers, to the families who wait for them at home, and to all who accompany them through the ministry of the Church.
To our seafarers and migrant workers: Daghang salamat. Thank you.
Many of you leave home not because you want to be far from the people you love, but precisely because you love them.
Behind every remittance is a sacrifice. Behind every voyage is a family waiting. Behind every migrant worker is a story of love.
You miss birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, Christmases, fiestas, and sometimes even the final moments of people you love. Your work may bring financial blessings, but we know that these blessings often come at a great personal cost.
And so, wherever your work brings you, I ask you: stay close to God.
The Psalmist assures us: “If I settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall guide me, and your right hand hold me fast” (Psalm 139:9–10).
Make prayer your daily source of strength and guidance. Before you begin your work, pray. When you are tired, pray. When you are lonely, pray. When you must make difficult decisions, pray. And when blessings come, remember to pray and give thanks.
When possible, attend Mass, receive the Sacraments, read God’s Word, and remain connected with a community of faith.
Your work may take you far from home, but never allow it to take you far from God.
No ocean is wide enough and no country is distant enough to place you beyond His loving hands.
To the families who wait
Today, we also honor the families of our seafarers and migrant workers. Your sacrifice may be different, but it is also real.
I encourage you: fill your homes with the presence of God. Pray together. Keep Sunday holy. Teach your children to pray for their mother or father working far away. Let your home remain a place of faith, fidelity, gratitude, and love.
And allow me to give one very practical fatherly reminder: live simply.
The sacrifices of our loved ones abroad should not become an excuse for extravagance at home. Every peso they earn represents time away from the family, hours of hard work, and sacrifices we may never completely see.
Use their earnings wisely. Save. Avoid unnecessary debts. Teach the children that love is not measured by gadgets, expensive clothes, celebrations, or possessions.
Let us not make our loved ones work abroad longer simply because our wants at home keep becoming bigger.
Live simply so that, God willing, the day may come sooner when they no longer need to leave—and the family can finally be together again.
To those who never came home
This National Seafarers Day, we remember in a special way our deceased and missing seafarers.
As we place a wreath upon the waters, we know that these are more than flowers. They carry our prayers, memories, gratitude, and tears.
Some families continue to grieve. Others live with the painful uncertainty of not knowing.
To you, I say: the Church remembers with you, waits with you, mourns with you, and prays with you. Your loved ones are not forgotten.
To our Stella Maris family
I express my heartfelt gratitude to our priests, religious, lay volunteers, chaplains, port ministers, and collaborators in Stella Maris–Apostleship of the Sea, here in Cebu and in other places.
Please never underestimate the holiness of your ministry.
Sometimes the Gospel at the port is preached not first through words, but through a welcoming smile, a listening ear, a ride, a phone call home, assistance during an emergency, the Eucharist, Confession, or simply sitting beside someone who feels alone.
Every time you welcome a seafarer, comfort a migrant in distress, accompany a grieving family, or help someone find the way home, you make the Church present.
Continue to be for our seafarers and migrants a Church that listens, a Church that welcomes, a Church that prays with them, and a Church that walks with them.
And I ask our priests, religious communities, parishes, and lay faithful to support this mission.
The pastoral care of migrants and seafarers is not the responsibility of Stella Maris alone. It is the mission of the whole Church.
My dear seafarers and migrant workers, wherever you may be today, remember: you belong to us. You are part of our family. You are part of our Church. We remember you, we are grateful for you, and we pray for you.
+ Most Rev. ALBERTO S. UY, DD
Archbishop of Cebu