National Maritime Day celebrates people of the sea

Friday, May. 13, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — The National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Mariners and People of the Sea will be celebrated May 23 in conjunction with National Maritime Day in the United States. This day has been celebrated since 1933 to recognize merchant mariners, fishermen, port personnel and those in the maritime industry.

The Apostleship of the Sea ministry is active in 48 dioceses in the country, providing pastoral outreach in nearly 53 maritime ports in 26 states with a network of about 92 chaplains, priests, religious, deacons and lay ministers.

Special Masses will be celebrated in observance of the National Day of Prayer in Washington D.C. on May 20 at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and on May 21 at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

U.S. Navy Capt. Justin James, a Judge Memorial Catholic High School Class of 1998 and U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2002, was stationed as a surface warfare officer in San Diego and deployed twice to the Persian Gulf and once to South America, he said. 

“When you are out in the middle of the ocean away from family for months without seeing other ships for weeks at a time, it is really nice to know that people are praying for you,” he said.

James’ first deployment to the Persian Gulf in 2003 was “right in the heat of the battle with Iraq;” one  of his duties was charge of the ship while others slept, he said. “There were times of solitude and I could appreciate how big the ocean is, but we were also isolated on the ship when Saddam Hussein was captured and all communication was shut down for 10 days; the operation leading up to and after his capture.”

For U.S. Navy Ensign Eric Lies, now stationed as a surface warfare officer in San Diego, “there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than on the ocean,” said the 2010 Juan Diego Catholic High School graduate and 2014 U.S. Naval Academy graduate. Lies has been in charge of over 60 sailors, maintained exterior and interior communications, navigational radars, fire control systems, arms and ammunition, he said. 

“I run on pure grit and a steady injection of caffeine,” he said. “Stepping outside and smelling that fresh ocean breeze gives me all the hope and energy in the world. I look out into the open ocean, not another soul in sight, at the most beautiful skies I’ll ever see and I fall in love. I’ve spent roughly a year out to sea, including eight months on a deployment to the Arabian Gulf. Granted that scene quickly gets ruined by other, less-than-friendly nations aggressively driving to within shouting distance of us, but that’s just part of the job.”

Knowing he is in harm’s way “makes the natural beauty of the world infinitely palpable,” Lies said. “There’s nothing but hope, possibilities, and the wind in our sails. Life at sea can be serene, beautiful, calm, but it can also be terrifying, and lethal. One day you wake up and the sun is shining, a gentle breeze kisses the surf and dolphins play with you as you drive the ship. Hours later you’re suffering from 15-foot seas, 20-degree rolls, and a storm that could break your ship on a whim tosses you about. I don’t care how courageous or strong you are, you’re helpless. The fact that there are millions of people keeping us all in their thoughts and prayers is a comfort and makes the most vicious of storms seem tame.”

Immigrants and refugees also fall under the Apostleship of the Sea through the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on Pastoral Care of migrants, refugees and travelers. 

Catholic Community Services of Utah resettles approximately 600 refugees each year from war-torn countries such as Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma, Iraq and Syria.

“Whenever there is a civil war or any type of persecution in a country, refugees are driven from their homes and forced to find a peaceful place where they can raise their families,” said Aden Batar, CCS Immigration and Refugee director. “People look for whatever means of travel they can to escape. They don’t have a way to protect themselves as they cross borders; some of them have even had their organs removed by people who don’t care about human life. There have been more than 60 million refugees this year try to escape in small boats across international waters from Africa or the Middle East to Europe; many bodies have been found on shores.”