BIBLE SYMPOSIUM: A Remarkable day from a Youth’s Perspective

January 21, 2023 was the day that the Archdiocese of Davao through the Bible and Youth Apostolates conducted the Bible Symposium at St. John Paul II Hall of San Pablo Parish.

As one of the chosen delegates of St. Mary of the Perpetual Rosary Parish, I was looking forward since it is my first time attending such a big event. When we arrived at the venue, the crowd of young people from different participating parishes caught my attention. I never thought that the participants would be that many. However, I’m happy to be able to see few familiar faces.

Moving on with the symposium proper, I became part of the pilgrim dance during the Bible enthronement.

Rev. Fr. Rene Ribac was our resource speaker for the symposium. He tackled mainly about two aspects, the first one is that it is the Word of God, and the second one is that it is the Word of Man. During his talk, I managed to grasp a lot of new learnings especially about being careful on interpreting the different passages of the Bible. It was informative and truly an interesting topic to discuss.

After the talk, we were all assigned to different groups from 1 to 20. I was part of the group 2 and once again I am grateful to be able to see new faces and to know new people while hearing their own takeaways from our resource speaker. Most of my groupmates were very confident and well-spoken and there were also some who were shy. Within the small group sharing, I managed to hear the different stories and experiences of the youth especially on their service at the church.

After the small group sharing, representatives from some of the formed groups talked in front. After that we proceeded to attend the 12:00 noon English Mass. Where Rev. Fr. Kim Samones, DAYCA Spiritual Director was the presider and was concelebrated by Rev. Fr. Ritsche Gamaya and Rev. Fr. Rey Sabuero. For me, the Holy Mass added spiritual enlightenment and blessing to us youth since we received the Body of Christ.

We all had lunch after the mass and the Bible Quiz followed. There were 32 parishes who sent their participants. I was one of the representatives from SMPRP together with my partner Ate Blanche Sofia Barimbao. Together we strived to give our best in answering the questions given. The whole experience was nerve-wracking, exciting but at the same time very informative because as the quiz progressed, the difficulty of the questions increased as well. In those given questions, I learned a couple of new information regarding the verses, stories, places, events and prominent figures in the Bible.

Overall, we managed to place 5th in the quiz. We are so happy to bring honor to our parish especially that we did our best. We weren’t able to clinch the first place but still the happiness, that I felt during the whole experience is so worth it. I am more than thankful for the wisdom and guidance that the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon us.

I am thankful for the apostolates who organized and planned this special event. It is a very good addition to the celebration of the Bible Month. For me it is a wise move to conduct the symposium because it allows the youth to get to know the Bible more.

At the end of day, I had one realization. We Catholics especially the youth, who are the future of the Church, must learn to love the Bible. We must always give time to read, and reflect on it because it is not just the Word of God but it also the Word of Man itself.

Happy Bible Month Everyone! (Allyza Hope Tabigue, SMPRP Youth/SoCCom)