YFC ICON 2019

Excerpts from the homily of Archbishop Romulo Valles, D.D. during the YFC ICON 2019 in USEP, Bo. Obrero, Davao City.

Brothers and sisters in the Lord, especially you, young people, the youth, participating in this YFC – Youth for Christ International Conference, I just heard that this is the 26th International Conference, thank you to all of you – the young people coming from many corners of the Philippines.

I am told also that because this is international, there are really delegates from outside the country. I just distinctly heard there are delegates from the UAE, and I guess from neighboring countries in Asia, we are glad to have you.

I would not like to say “we welcome you” because this is the last day but we would just like to say that we in Davao are so happy, and we are blessed by your presence by choosing Davao as the place of your conference. Thank you so much.

To those of you who are coming from the country, to note, in the Philippines, this year – 2019, is designated as the year of the you so this is very special. To hear that there is a gathering of about 7,000 young people gathered by CFC, that certainly adds color to our Year of the Youth in the Philippines.

For those who are not from the Philippines, you see, we have a 9-year preparation, for 2021 which that year, the Philippines will celebrate 500 years of Christianity. So, we seem to have a novena, not of days but nine years, to prepare for the 500 years centennial of the coming of the Christian Catholic Faith in the country.

That is why we have a focus every year. Hence, for this year, we have the Year of the Youth and as I said earlier, this gathering of about 7,000 young people internationally adds color to the celebration. Again, thank you so much.

I’d also like to thank the elders, the CFC, for taking this initiative, this work, which I know is very difficult to organize, but thank you so much for caring for our young people. The Lord will bless you really.

The theme is Onward: Journey to Holiness. I just received this, but before having received this, I already know that is the theme because of your T-shirts.

Very beautiful!

That challenge to journey to holiness – before we say holiness, everyone in this life must journey. The problem is that we don’t know the destination.

Just like how many of those who are inside the malls have no destination. Whether we like it or not, the push or the dynamics in life is a journey, but as I have said, many of us do not have destination. But today, it is impressed on us that this is onward, and onward, a journey to holiness.

By the way, that is the dynamics of lent. Lent is also a journey – a preparatory journey. We are now on the fifth Sunday of Lent and the end of Lent is Holy Thursday daytime. The evening of the Holy Thursday is not anymore Lent because we enter to the goal of our journey that is to enter into God’s love.

He loves us so much and that is part of the end of the journey.

It is not only that He is a great God, He is a savior, but the flip side, let me stop here…

I am sure all of you 7,000 here do not understand flip side because you know mp3, and flash drive but what my generation has is the turntable, 45rpm and long playing.

The flip side is the other side of the vinyl. So the flip side, is that God is love, God is merciful.

The very important flip side when we journey is that we are so precious and that each one in this journey is very precious.

The Lord wants that each one will finish that journey, ready to enter, meaning the rhythm of life is already compatible and then there’s holiness.

And you are so fortunate. The 7,000 of you is so fortunate. But you are still very little compared to the whole number of young people.

But even if you don’t I will tell you, be thankful to the Lord, to your parents, to the CFC elders, that you are given this opportunity to know that indeed we are on a journey towards holiness, towards God, who looks at us that we are precious and we are loved.

Many times, we don’t realize how precious we are in the eyes of God. Especially when along the journey, we feel that we are not worth it, we are not loved, or worse, we know that we are loved because we are sinners.

But no, the Lord does not want that to happen. Because even when I said we are precious to His eyes, we don’t even begin to understand how precious we are in the eyes of God.