When Christ says “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15), it means that the Gospel does not concern Christians only, but all humanity. For the Gospel is not sacred teaching that we Christians should keep to ourselves but, It is good news of God's reign which needs to be proclaimed to all humanity regardless of their faith. And I believe, as a Filipino youth in a mission, I have to take part in proclaiming this good news to help make the world a single-family.
I've been happily serving and taking part in the core group of youth ministry at St. Francis Xavier Parish, Diocese of Novaliches. For several years now and through this ministry, I was able to see the beauty of our Christian faith. Every time an opportunity comes to help me deepen my understanding about my faith, I am always more than willing to accept it thinking that perhaps, in this way, I could become a better instrument of God to help my fellow youth to see, understand and appreciate as well, the beauty that I am witnessing and somehow ignite their fire to be enthusiastic about knowing God and come closer to the church. This has been my ground to become more committed and enthusiastic in the ministry. Until one day, while we are in a camp, father Simone Piccolo, SX introduced to us an international youth organization that promotes unity and universal brotherhood by going beyond the borders of cultural and religious diversity, who will conduct their first-ever event outside Europe and luckily, it was in the Philippines.
I was very blessed to be sent and be part of our parish youth delegation team together with the Xaverian missionary brothers. During that 3-day event, I saw how the youth coming from different countries and having different views and beliefs interact and bond with each other, everyone is free to share their faith without the intention of persuading others to forget their own and for me, this is a great start off to be one. Seeing the harmony of all the youth inside that hall was really pleasing to my eyes. At that moment I let myself to be indulged with the satisfaction I felt, my heart and mind were filled with joy. With all the sharings I heard I learned a lot from them and had a better grasp to the faith I have, I was able to understand that no matter what their faith is called (born again, Baptist, catholic) we all agreed in one thing and that is there's only one God whose only goal is for us to have peace with each other and make the world as one family. Being with these young people, it helped realize the importance of further understanding others belief by having a dialogue with them despite all the boundaries set by our diversities. My experience in an inter-religious dialogue does not end there, it was just the beginning and perhaps, joining a small group of an ecumenical youth could be one great way to start.
