cover picture : Mass held in the kitchen and dining area of the dormitory
Especially for Catholic migrant workers, their shift work makes them miss the Sunday Liturgical Celebrations. It is either the time between they get out of work and the time for the Mass is so close thatthey could hardly make it to the Eucharistic Celebration. Some are just too tired to rush to the church and preferred to rest in the dormitory.
Seeing this reality of the migrant workers around the manufacturing zone where his parish is located, Fr. Willy Ollevier, CICM has brought the presence of Christ nearer to the Catholic faithful by going to the factories very early in the morning to wait for the migrants to come out from work. Standing at the street corners Fr. Willy would give the workers blessing while some would especially ask him to offer prayers for their families or personal concerns.
Just like in the discourse about the Bread of Life that we heard in the gospel of John in these days, God gave manna from heaven for people to eat but Jesus also talked about the bread that gives life.
The gospel story is translated in the life situation of the migrant workers who also left the comfort of their homes and risk to venture into a new country with high hopes to provide bread to their loved ones.
Fr. Willy has also regular schedules in selected dormitories to celebrate Mass to those who could not receive the Sacrament on Sundays. The Mass is humbly celebrated either in the dinning table in the kitchen area or in the corridors of the living quarters. This has also become a venue to part take the bread of life in the shared reflections and prayer intentions among those attending the Mass.
This is a shared undertaking of Caritas Taiwan with Fr. Willy and Sr. Nellie Zarraga, ICM to celebrate the Liturgy and also to take this opportunity to give labor information that is relevant to the migrant workers.
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