Fr. Eliseo Napiere, MSP
The Apostleship of the Sea (AOS), a section of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People of the Chinese Regional Bishops¡¦ Conference (CRBC-ECMI) under the guidance of Bishop Bosco Lin, the AOS National Bishop Promoter and President of ECMI, has started a Seafarers and Fishers¡¦ Pastoral Care Program in Taichung Harbor.
With its humble beginning, inspired by the Apostolic Letter ¡§Novo Millennio Ineunte¡¨ (Jan. 6, 2001) of the late Pope John Paul II at the beginning of the Third Millennium, AOS-Taichung was able to start this program with trust deeply anchored on the exhortation ¡§Duc in Altum¡¨.
Duc In Altum! still reverberates after 8 years. It invites us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence for ¡§Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever¡¨ (Heb.13:8).
¡§Duc In Altum¡¨ , is a challenge for me as AOS National Director. I found it difficult to begin with no logistics and resources at hand. But ¡§Duc In Altum¡¨ gave me the courage to jump into the depth of many challenges - to envision the welfare of the seafarers and fishers, who are responsible for connecting the world separated by vast and dangerous oceans bringing in goods for our economy. Often they are exploited and criminalized, risk physical and emotional dangers while traversing the high seas with their only hope and safety being anchored in God.
AOS-Taichung managed to jump-start a program armed only with faith and trust in the Divine providence.
The AOS has seen a great hope and blessings from God, as a result of our ¡§Duc in Altum¡¨. During the IV Regional Committee on Seafarers ¡¦ Welfare (RCSW) meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, from November 2 - 5, the National Chinese Seamen¡¦s Union (NCSU) representatives expressed their desire to collaborate with AOS-Taichung and allowed the latter to use its existing Seaman¡¦s Club facility in Taichung Port rent-free for the use of AOS-Taichung Seafarers ¡¦ Pastoral Care Center.
Hopefully, by 2010 the AOS-Taichung Seafarers' Pastoral Care Center will become a haven for the ¡§invisible people¡¨ of the sea where they can enjoy the comfort of Christ¡¦s love and the hospitality of the Catholic Church in Taiwan. As we enter into a new year, our hearts ring out with the words of Jesus when one day, after speaking to the crowds from Simon's boat, he invited the Apostle to "put out into the deep" for a catch: "Duc in altum" (Lk 5:4). Peter and his first companions trusted Christ's words, and cast the nets. "When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish" (Lk 5:6).
AOS-Taichung following the call of Jesus ¡§to put out into the deep¡¨ (Duc In Altum) and trusting only in His words believes a great catch - a fulfillment of a vision enshrined in the heart of Bishop Martin Su, the Bishop of Taichung: ¡§UNUM IN SPIRITU SANCTO¡¨ (the motto of the Bishop¡¦s Coat of Arms). It is a vision where seafarers and fishers of different nationalities, cultures, religions become united in the Holy Spirit as one human family under the Fatherhood of One God and the protection of Mary, the Stella Maris - Star of the Sea.
Christmas is a celebration God¡¦s ¡§Duc in Altum¡¨, when He put Himself into the deep by becoming like us so that we become like Him. MERRY CHRISTMAS !
(for comment: Fr. Eliseo M. Napiere, MSP, # 11 Minsheng Road, Changhua City (500), Taiwan, R.O.C. Tel. # +88647239716 / +886930577056 email: aostaiwan@gmail.com / www.ecmi-taiwan.catholicweb.com)