Message for the 19th National Migrants’ Sunday

February 13, 2005, 1st Sunday of Lent

As we celebrate the 19th Migrants’ Sunday, we renew our appreciation for the great contribution our migrant workers give not only to our national economy (almost US $ 8 billion in 2003) but more importantly, to the promotion of the Church’s mission, as we remind ourselves of their plight and assure them of our prayers and pastoral care.

Widespread poverty and the poor economic situation of our country make many of our fellow citizens long to seek greener pastures abroad. A bishop of a remote diocese told of his encounter with a girl who desperately wanted to work as an “entertainer” in Japan against the advice of her relatives and of the bishop himself. This girl feels driven— like thousands of other Filipinos in the country—to work abroad to earn “more bread”. The pain of physical hunger or the cries of various human wants may be preventing them from listening to the words of Jesus: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God”.

The Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care for Migrants and Itinerant people (ECMI) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) does not discourage our people from working for “more bread” abroad, nor does it judge unfavorably the motivations of those who migrate for work. The ECMI, however, commits itself to providing pastoral care for migrants and their families, so that the overwhelming need for “more bread” and the exhausting work it entails may not deaden their sense and need of God.

The theme for the 19th National Migrants’ Sunday Celebration is “With Mary, the Migrants and Their Families Find Life in the Eucharist”. Relying upon the guidance of Mary—she who heeded the word of God and became an instrument of our salvation—the ECMI endeavors to heighten the awareness in our society of the plight of our OFWs and to organize programs which will make them hunger for the “word that comes from the mouth of God.” Our collective effort to reduce poverty in our country by improving its economic situation through good governance and the elimination of graft and corruption should ease the pain of hunger in our people, and, it is hoped, may also dispose them to trust more in the “word of God.”

The example of Mary, through whose unconditional trust in God the Word was made Flesh, should inspire migrants and their families towards trust in the Lord, the source of true life, more than in their ability to work for the means to sustain life. The pastoral care for migrants and families will therefore endeavor to lead them into a true devotion to the Blessed Mother—a devotion which will in turn guide them in discovering the source of true life and happiness, the Eucharist, the Bread of Life! It is our prayer and fervent hope that the migrants and their families will work not only for “more bread” but also for the Bread of Life.

Finally, we congratulate our Filipino migrant workers who faithfully and courageously live their faith in the Eucharistic Lord in the midst of difficulties, indifference, and even persecution in foreign lands. They not only work for “more bread” to feed their families; by their witness they also “feed” the whole world the Bread—the word of God made flesh in Jesus Christ.

May our Blessed Mother continue to keep our Filipino Migrants safe and always alive with faith in the Eucharist!

Bp. Precioso D. Cantillas, SDB, DD
Bishop of Maasin/ Chairman, CBCP-ECMI