People participate in a procession as Pope Francis celebrates a Mass marking the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on March 14, 2021. (Cristian Gennari, Catholic News Service)
“Migrants are Smugglers of Faith”
“I have often said that here in Rome Filipino women are “smugglers” of faith! Because wherever they go to work, they sow the faith”. – Pope Francis (Homily Sunday, 14 March in St. Peter’s Basilica for the 500th anniversary of the Evangelization of the Philippines.)
There are more than 10 million Filipino Migrants living in almost 100 countries in the world. As an OFW, I guess it is not just in Rome that the statement is true. Many of us left the country enduring the loneliness, separation and sorrow, leaving not to abandon but to love our families by thinking about their future. Behind the success are losses and struggles, but we find comfort in our fellow Filipino groups, in the church where we can pray and celebrate the Eucharist together. Being a migrant Catholic in a protestant country is an extra challenge for us because we cannot find a Catholic church nearby. We have to travel from 3 to 4 hours just to attend a Eucharistic celebration. These are the moments that we feel that yes “the harvest is great but the workers are few.”
We are all called to be Holy. As migrants we carry with us our faith. By taking care of the elderly as our own parents, children as our own child, we talk about our faith and live by it, by doing so, we are sowing it and sharing it to those we touch our lives with.
To achieve our common vocation, migrants, let us be smugglers of faith. (SJBRN)
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