Summer is the season most associated with the sea, and few people do not love it. When we think of the sea in summer, the beach, colorful umbrellas, swimming, and fun immediately come to mind… But do we ever think of those who work with and on the sea? Do we ever think of those for whom the sea means daily toil?
The Church has done so and continues to do so!

A day of prayer

This year, on July 9, and every year on the second Sunday of July, Catholic communities celebrate “Sea Sunday,” an international day of prayer for seafarers and their families, as well as for all those in the Church who support them, such as the volunteers and chaplains dedicated to the Apostleship of the Sea, the ministry that has provided spiritual assistance to seafarers since 1920.

The message: “The Church is close to you”

In his message for Sea Sunday 2023, Cardinal Czerny writes: “So let a united message reach those who are at sea today: the Church is close to you. What brings you joy and what weighs you down matter to us. We are not only here to give you something, but also to receive your stories, your testimonies: your perspective on work, the economy, relations between different religions and cultures, the condition of the sea and the land, and faith—which only through your experience can reach and challenge all the members of the Church and, through them, our societies.”
The invitation, then, is to walk together: we are called to move forward together, to sail together. “If there is one effort we want to undertake this year, it is precisely to examine how we can be closer, in an ongoing exchange that makes your work less distant from everyone’s journey and faith.”
Sea Sunday helps us feel even more like the Church: a community that walks together.