National Youth Cross unique manifestation to the youth

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Manila, Sept. 14, 2011- In a recently held pilgrimage of the National Youth Cross in the Northern Luzon Region, several youth participants experienced a unique encounter with the said youth cross.

(National Youth Cross Pilgriimage in Baguio City. Photo Courtesy: Jandel Posion) According to Fr. Ricky Belino, diocesan youth director of Baguio diocese, there were lots of wonders that the young people in their diocese and region has felt when the cross-visited their parishes. At first they were excited and eager to see the cross. The youth were curious on how the youth cross looks like. When it arrived in their dioceses and down to their parishes, they had intimate feelings with the cross, as if they also wanted to touch it. Nung nakita din nila ang paintings ay natuwa sila kasi para daw nilang nakita ang sarili nila, said Belino. Belino also opened up that the youth realized many things in their life during the pilgrimage cross visit. There are lots of realization na dumating sa kanilang buhay ang binigay ng national youth cross. In our confession during the overnight vigil with the cross, umabot kami ng 2:00 oclock in

the morning and ito po ay isang malaking milagro na sa buhay ng mga kabataan kasi they have realized na may Diyos na nagmamahal sa kanila, in spite and despite of who they are, according to Belino. He also added that the some youth participations shared that they realized their responsibility and they are part of the church.

Participants experiences
Two participants shared that they had experience the love of Jesus Christ to the youth. Sem. James Agustin Castillo said that he learned many things on the visit of the cross. Castillo also said that the miracle for him was when some fellow seminarian from the seminary didnt believe about the power of the cross. But when it arrived in the diocese, the doubtful seminarians felt that Jesus Christ is really alive. Castillo is a pre-college seminarian from St. Francis Xavier Seminary of the diocese of Baguio. On the other hand, Ekengwu Dominic Emeka, a Nigerian student of Psychology attest that there is something very unique about the cross. During the visit of the cross, I can see that the youth has been empowered more to love the Cross and is cherished as the symbol of salvation. The youth has been after Christ, they are after the Cross, that they wanted to be part of it and in their daily living, said Emeka. When asked about his personal experience with the cross, Emeka felt the wonder of the cross when he had the sacrament of reconciliation. It seems that Christ was speaking to me. When I had the confession, I was almost crying, Emeka said.

Miracle encounter
Jetrix Tenebro, regional youth coordinator who accompanied the pilgrim cross in its journey in the said regions shared some testimonies of manifestation. Noong nagmemeeting pa ang team ng diocese of Laoag, alanganin na makaattend and members ng documentation team. Pero nagulat nalang ako noong dumating na yun cross sa

kanilang diocese, bigla silang nagpresenta na magdocument. Ang unique dito ay puro sila mga takers ng nursing board exam. Tapos sa last night ng vigil sa diocese nila, yun din ang time na lumabas ang results ng nursing board exam kung saan silang lahat ay nakapasa. Nagpasalamat saila sa binigay na regalo sa kanila ng cross, Tenebro shared. He added that it was only one of the manifestations, there was also a manifestation in Tuguegarao archdiocese. Isa ding milagro para sakin ay yun nangyari sa isang youth minister. Bedridden na ang kanyang mother because of cancer. He promised to be with the cross in its journey sa region at sumama din siya sa ibang diocese. Ang magandang nangyari after the pilgrimage, nakabangon ang kanyang ina. May mga ganong instances na hindi mo aakalian na manyayari, he also added. Tenebro also mentioned that there was an instance in Abra where a municipal mayor waited for the vigil to finish in order for her to have a photo opportunity with the cross. He stressed that the visit of the pilgrim youth cross brings energy to the young people in their region. He also stated that the cross is friendly, very accommodating and was really a youth cross where the youth felt the closeness of the cross to their hearts. The pilgrimage of the National Youth Cross (NYC) in North Luzon Region started on August 2 and been in the region for 43 days until Sept. 13 and is now in the Military Ordinariate where it will stay for 1 week before having its journey to the NCR diocese on Sept. 14. (Jandel Posion)

Young People: Stand firm in Christ!

Dear People of God in the Philippines, most especially the youth, God has given me the grace of passionately loving the youth1.
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With the desire to make these words of Blessed John Paul II our own, we, your Bishops, cordially greet you in this CBCP Year of the Youth! May Gods love, ever fresh, ever young, be with you all, in this special time of grace and blessing!2 Through this pastoral letter, we want to reach out to you, the Filipino youth, and communicate to you our thoughts and sentiments regarding this most blessed opportunity, this grace-filled time. Perhaps the one thing which some of you cannot seem to get enough of, is TIMEyou being always in a hurry and on the go, multi-tasking left and right, doing a lot of things, and yet feeling as if you never have enough time in your hands. God, instead, is the One beyond time:

Eternal, timeless, unchanging. But He entered into our time, thereby sanctifying it. In God, chronos3 thus becomes kairos4. As the CBCP Year of the Youth, the year 2011 becomes indeed a special time, a time of grace. Fortuitously and fortunately, the year 2011 is also the 25th Anniversary of the Episcopal Commission on Youth (ECY)5, the commission in our Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) directly attending to you and your concerns; its silver jubilee served as a primary motivation for us to declare this year as Year of the Youth. Like more than a decade ago with the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, this year also promises abundant blessings for you, dear young people. But before we go on any further, may we also call out to all other agents and sectors in our church and nation: Parents (first and foremost), government officials, educators, those in civil society and media, and other leaders and stakeholders in the welfare of the youth6. Join us in this CBCP Year of the Youth! Link up with us as we reach out to our young people and make this year relevant and meaningful to them and for them. More importantly, let us help the young make their lives meaningful and fruitful not only for tomorrow, but even in the here and now7. For what they can do or contribute to make a better tomorrow, they can very well do and contribute to make a better today! A THREEFOLD OBJECTIVE

National Youth Cross holds pilgrimage in Basco

by Necitas G. Alconis
BASCO, Batanes, August 23 (PIA) -- Guests from the Commission on Youth, National Youth Cross arrived in Basco yesterday for a three-day pilgrimage from August 22-24, 2011. The pilgrims were met at the airport by the Basco Parish, the St. Dominic College Student population board officers, Youth for Christ members and all religious organizations in Basco, accompanied by the Basco Central School drum corp. From the airport, they proceeded to the Basco Cathedral for a holy mass, blessing of the National Youth Cross, solemn veneration of the cross, short talk on the history of NYC and youth presentations. After the first stop over at the cathedral, a motorcade of all volunteers from the parishioners leading to Itbud, (22 km south of Basco). In Itbud, the following events will be conducted: veneration of the NYC, praise breaker, acknowledgement, prayer for the youth and final blessing. The same activities will also be done in Uyugan parish, in Ivana and Mahatao, except the parishes of Itbayat and Sabtang. The pilgrimage unites all youth with other parishioners in Batan Island. A culminating program for the NYC and a final Eucharistic mass will be held in Basco on August 24 before the send off activity. (TCB/NGA/PIA Batanes)

The Lamb who was slain is worthy to receive strength and divinity, wisdom and power and honor; to him glory and power for ever. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In the passage of St. Matthews Gospel for today, while speaking of the Son of Man, Jesus gives a picture of the splendor that is yet to come saying, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All the

nations will be assembled before him Jesus is obviously referring to himself because he always preferred the title Son of Man during his public ministry to show his solidarity with all of us in suffering. The solemnity of Christ the King is the culmination of a year-long celebration of the events in the life of this ordinary human being whose greatness and splendor he purposely kept hidden so as to be like us in all things except sin. The early Christians expressed their faith in this mystery through a hymn that St. Paul would later quote in his letter to the Philippines: though he was by nature God, [he] did not consider being make like unto men. And appearing in the form of man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even to death on a cross. (Phil 2:6-8). This emptying of self, this not clinging, this being obedient was the expression of his love for his family made up of his Father, his bride the Church, and for is brothers and sisters. But the history of salvation did not end there. Humiliated unto death and having suffered through many sighs and tears he restored the cosmic order that was broken and destroyed by sin. Listen to what happens next as expressed by St. Paul in the same letter we are quoting from: Because of this, God as exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is above every other name and (so that) every tongue proclaim that the Lord Jesus reigns in the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:9, 11). Humbled for a time, he now reigns for eternity. He now presides over history, he reigns from the cross, he rules our destinies with a crown of thorns because his kingship rests on the saving power of his love. And so, therefore, he can offer the invitation to each of us to take up our cross daily and follow him, only because he has shown us by is own example. Actions speak louder than words is a principle of common sense that our experience as shown to be accurate. Jesus has exemplified this principle and therefore, his words are authoritative and credible. And so it is that down the centuries, his words carry weight. Countless followers have received consolation in the fact that because Jesus is credible, what he promises, he fulfills. St. Paul, whose memory we have been commemorating throughout this year, experienced this firsthand. And therefore exerted all his effort spent all his strength and energy to spread this supremacy of Jesus who became the Christ the object of our faith and worship. And we know that we will never go wrong as it was God himself who gave him the name above every other name and decreed that every knee shall bend to him. God, appointed him heir of all things, by whom also he made the world, who, being of the brightness of his glory and the image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, has effected mankinds purgation from sin and taken his seat at the right and of the Majesty on high, having become so much superior to the angels (Heb 1:3-4). Yet this is the problem in our world today. We bend our knees to any other kind of god who promises us immediate satisfaction. Even to the detriment of true identity; to the destruction of out humanity. These other gods are the powers of this world, the elemental spirits of our fallen nature. Worship of them is the root of our problems in society, and even in our churches sometimes. What do these powers do to us? They tempt us to exploit the beauty of our paradise simply for the sake of selfish profit, close our hearts to the values of justice and honesty, disregard the rights of the unborn, create divisions, refuse to be reconciled. And all under the guise of good intentions. The true Churchs social concern is to free our hearts from greed, from the seeking for prestige, and the overweening desire for self-determination. Let us heed the words of our king: Come to me, all you who labor and

are burdened, and I will give you rest, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light (Matt 11:28-30) Sisters and Brothers, let me end this message for the fitting celebration of the Solemnity of Christ, the King, with another hymn we Christians sing at First Vespers of Sunday of the Second Week of the Psalter:

In your hearts enthrone Him; There, let Him subdue All that is not holy, All that is not true; May your voice entreat Him In temptations hour; Let His will enfold you In its light and power.
May God bless you all.