On the second day of the 24 th CFC Youth for Christ International Conference, the participants experienced to be loved and gave more through the Holy Spirit poured upon them. JV Monzon, Full-Time Pastoral Worker of Cavite, officially opened the 2nd day as he led everybody to a trailblazing worship. He encouraged those who are present to always acknowledge our loving and victorious God because of his faithfulness to us. Thus, according to him, as God’s children, let us allow ourselves to experience God more than the things we desire.
After this, delegates went to their chosen workshops and Parish Encounter activities in the various venues and churches around Ilocos Norte. There were 12 workshops namely: Speakers, Vocation, Events: Gateway Evangelization, Marketing the Youth Camp, Dance, Mentoring, SFC Crossover, ROCK Appreciation, Music Ministry, Parenting, Kristogram and Bible Study: PFO. Through these workshops, they were affirmed of how the ministry can be an avenue to explore one’s skills and talents in order to serve God with all our hearts. Likewise, the 13 host parishes showed that despite the differences between the parish organizations, spreading and sharing God’s solid and faithful love is still possible.
Different delegations showcased their talents like singing, playing instruments, dancing, beatbox and spoken word poetry during the Youth Festival. Also, interactive activities were done to engage and hype up the delegates.
In the afternoon, Holy Eucharist was presided by Most Rev. Marlo Peralta. His homily had three points. First, there is always a deeper and more meaningful happiness- to give more time to others and less for ourselves. Second, echoing Pope Francis’ reminder that we should not be distracted by the things we see on social media because it might distort our sense of reality and truth and lastly, we should remember that if we suffer with Christ, we will share in His glory.
The evening worship was led by Arbi Adona who reminded the participants that no matter how difficult problems may be, the Lord remains faithful to us. In return, we should surrender everything, trust Him and seek His presence with a joyful and thankful heart.
For the session 2, Mel Serrano and his family touched our hearts through being witnesses of God’s greatness. For Mel, each of us is called to be a missionary of our own family because they are God’s gift and expression of love. Being a missionary, problems will always be there along our way but one should always look back on one’s journey with Him. The delegates were then led to an activity where they would write ‘I love you’ and ‘sorry’ letters for their family. In this session, one of the sharers, John Rey Decinan shared his struggles that his family has undergone. Despite all of it, he still continues to trust and believe in God because he knows that He will never give us something we cannot bear with. The second sharer, Jon Viray, considered his family as God’s gift and miracle.
For the last session, Sean Septimo affirmed everybody that we are God’s gift because we are able to feel His love, grace, and presence. He helped the participants realize that things outside the community that might affect our family, CFC- Youth for Christ. Voltz Perez, together with his wife, Francis shared how they felt being blessed despite not having a child. They were trying and longing to have a child but they accepted God’s plan for them- to take care and embrace young people from YFC Cavite Highschool based. This blessing and anointment made them experience God’s wholeness through the community.
Sharer Sarah Hicarte, reminded the participants to be thankful for everything. Sarah was inflicted by a viral infection but this did not prevent her from serving the Lord. As a matter of fact, this became her inspiration to serve other people. For her, the community, CFC- Youth for Christ, helped her to realize she is blessed more than she knows.
To end the day, Justine Pablo recognized our family, YFC, and Jesus Christ as our Solid Grounds. He pointed out that the cross is a reminder for us to commit ourselves to Christ and to partake in his every suffering and victory. Being God’s beloved team, we should always have a faithful and merciful heart to share His solid and unlimited love.
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