Build your life plans in Christ, bishop tells youth

MANILA, November 18, 2011—Be like the wise man who builds his house upon the rock, not the foolish one who builds his house upon the sand. This was what Legazpi Bishop Joel Baylon urged the youth as he reiterated the meaning of the theme of the National Youth Day (NYD), “Planted in Christ, firm in the Faith.”

In his parting message to the participants of the NYD, Baylon likened centering one’s life in Christ and shaping one’s life goals based on his faith to building one’s house upon the rock, which stands still even if the rain falls, the flood comes and the winds blow.

Baylon, the chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Youth of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said it is important for the NYD participants to apply the meaning of the NYD theme in their practical lives.

“Your plans of being happy and successful, getting married and building a family or even serving God through a religious vocation, all have to be established in Christ, just like the house that the wise man built upon the rock,” he said.

Because if one’s plans are only centered on the short-lived pleasure and temporary bliss, Baylon said the rain, flood and winds will overturn it like what happened to the house that the foolish man built upon the sand.

The prelate also challenged the youth to show their firmness as Catholics by living out their faith in the open, defending the Church’s teachings and being witness of Christ to others.

“Let us not be mere Catholics in private. Let us live up to our faith in public and show that we bear witness to God’s Words and follow Church teachings,” he said.

At least 3,300 young Filipinos from different parishes, schools, organizations and dioceses nationwide went to Manila since last Monday to participate in the week-long celebration of the NYD, which will culminate this evening with a grand festival night at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City. (YouthPinoy)