Great article about wonderful LA maritime priest

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=116720

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Seamen’s Salve in Los Angeles

By BILL STEPHENSFilipinas Magazine
It’s a chilly Friday evening and Father Henry Hernando arrives at the International Seafarers Center (ISC) in the sprawling Los Angeles/ Long Beach port complex.
Despite having put in a full day’s work at his own Stella Maris Maritime Ministry hospitality center in nearby cruise ship Pier 93, the maritime chaplain comes here almost nightly to visit with cargo and container ship seafarers—mostly Filipinos like himself.
Inside the modest, lively ISC hospitality center, the 65-year-old priest chats with two new faces.
"Where are you guys from?"
"Cebu."
"Me too," he says.
"If your crew wants a ship visit, your captain can call me," he adds, although he doubts if it will happen because of the tight schedule and security.
These cargo ship seafarers are on a 10-month stint away from their families, and will sail the next day.
At 10 p.m., Father Henry drives some sailors to their ships before going home to his Mary Star of the Sea parish room. He says he doesn’t mind the hours. "I’m touched by seafarers’ sacrifices for their families’ future."
Next morning, Father Henry arrives at his cozy Pier 93 hospitality center, which has phones, a computer, magazines, snacks, couches, a chapel and a few volunteers.
Seafarers, mostly Filipinos, pop in and out. They greet Father Henry, phone home, mail packages and grab rides into town.
Father Henry says when he took this job in 2003, he was excited about helping merchant marine seafarers. Born in the Philippines, the son of a U.S. Navy chief petty officer (CPO), he’d served as a priest in L.A. and as a U.S. Navy chaplain around the globe.
"I’d seen in the Navy, how chaplains help morale. Sailors share their homesickness, family worries and job stress with us. Mass, blessings and counseling give them a boost. Being in port is for healing, recuperation, R&R and mending spirits."

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Do read this whole article! And please pray for Father Henry's intentions and for the welfare of all who he serves in ministry.