CHRIST AT SEA
Fr. Savino Bernardi , C.S

Jubilee on the high seas
 
 

FOR the first time in the history of the Church, the Holy Father, accepting the request of the Apostleship of the Sea, has granted seafarers the possibility to enjoy the spiritual benefits of the Jubilee Year when at sea.

An official document from the Vatican states that the Holy Father “has graciously accepted this devout request… and established that the People of the Sea who work on the immense marine areas, can obtain the same jubilee indulgences that the other Christians will earn through a devout visit to the holy places either in the city of Rome, the Holy Land, or in the other ecclesiastic circumscriptions, by reciting the Our Father and the Creed before a religious image after renouncing all sins, including venial sins and, at the same time, declaring their intention to fulfill the usual conditions as soon as possible of sacramental Confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.”

“Moreover, it would be most advisable for the people of the sea who obtain the spiritual benefits of the Great Jubilee in this way to fortify their spiritual bond of Catholic unity, keeping well in mind that they are united to the Vicar of Christ, the Bishops, all the clergy, and their brethren around the world”.

Such opportunity to benefit from the graces of the Great Jubilee Year can easily be established on board ships by the initiative of a Christian Leader member of the crew. Such a unity in prayer and faith offers great strength and profound inspiration to all participants. But even when no one is there to initiate such an opportunity, the spiritual benefits of the Jubilee Year can now be received by an individual crew-member while at high sea.

But why is a Jubilee Year so important in the spiritual concept of the Catholic life and how did it come about?

GREAT JUBILEE 2000

After years of intense preparation, humanity and the Christian World in particular have already entered the Jubilee Year. With it, two thousand years since the coming of Christ are seen in retrospective as a time of  “liberation and salvation” through the grace of Christ, the announcement of the Gospel and the growth in a Christian way of living.

There is much to celebrate and to thank God on account of the significant improvements which have positively transformed society. Yet much still remains to be done. Indeed, much evil, injustice, and social pain remain in all levels of human living.

Therefore, the 26th ordinary Jubilee Year has been introduced as one special historical moment ushering the 3rd Millennium and a time when all are invited to a “deep transformation” of mind, behavior and order of things in line with a spiritual view that “everything in the world and in history comes from God and to him everything returns” – as the Holy Father says in his apostolic letter “Tertio Millennio Adveniente” (TMA 55).

This was the religious perception of the Jewish people in the Old Testament: From God they received freedom, land and dignity (the Exodus experience).

In God is the order that gives peace and harmony to all. Therefore, all order of things should be made to return periodically every seven years and more radically every 50 years to the initial order wanted by God, since humans tend to misappropriate, misuse and to mistreat things and one another. This opportune time was ushered in by the sounding of the “jobel” (ram’s horn): a year when the land was left to rest, people would return to their ancestral home, debts be forgiven, slaves be set free, people would enjoy once again liberation from bonds of oppression and injustices would be corrected.

In the modern context, slavery and oppression are still prevalent in our society, though in different forms. Poverty and hunger still affect the lives of millions of people, wars displace many people from their familiar environment, the globalization of the economic system favors greed and exploitation of natural and human resources in developing countries. Local governments and officers have often succumbed to corruption and crimes, the poor live in fear and debts. Many citizens of poor countries are forced to settle in city slums and accept with a grim of distaste job opportunities at a level of survival and at the cost of safety and personal dignity.

With this social and economic scenarios, the Catholic Church invites everyone to celebrate the Biblical Jubilee Year by a personal “conversion” to ideals and practices of justice, fair consideration and care to all. It begins by acknowledging the need for changes and undertaking the pain of freeing the spirit from excessive material concerns. The Jubilee Year is celebrated in the name of the Trinity, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, to indicate the return to full harmony through a new spirit which is creating life, liberating people and affirming individuals.

The Church suggests many initiatives, occasions and events to celebrate the Jubilee Year at the personal and community level so that no one and no situation of life may escape the beneficial and healing effect of a personal and social transformation: prayer, reading of the Bible, confession, sacraments, sacrifice, acts of charity, service to the community; participation to gatherings of spiritual renewal, contribute to religious and humanitarian programs, desist from unfair practices and immoral conduct. Pilgrimages or visits to designated holy places and churches become the external sign of our personal commitment to “walk” towards a new life and to “praise” the God of our salvation with the Christian Community. Ordinarily, the faithful are invited to join one of these “walks and gathering of faith” and complete the requirements requested by the Catholic Church.

It might be of help to some seafarers to suggest that their travelling takes them to many countries and offers them rare opportunities of visiting places others cannot reach. They can make a point to visit, individually or as group, and through the assistance of a local Stella Maris Chaplain, a particular jubilarian church or shrine while staying in port. Your prayers will become like spiritual shock waves around the world and bring God’s blessings to all.

EDITORIAL:

Beware the Ides of March
 

Of sharks and dolphins
Capt. Telesforo Solda
 

CHRIST AT SEA:
Jubilee on the high seas
Fr.Savino Bernardi, C.S.
 

THE LAW AND SEAFARERS:
Overseas legal protection, still a pipedream?
Atty. Basilio Alo
"The Protector"
 

SOUNDING LEAD:
Preparation for full compliance
Capt. Reynaldo M. Sabay
 

MEAN INDICATED PRESSURE:
The time bomb
Engr. Nelson P. Ramirez