Mercelita S.

Baba BSA II-A

Celebrating 500 days to 500 years of Christianity: Gifted to Give

Last November 17, 2019 the Diocese of Maasin celebrates Christianity's 5th centenary in

the Philippines. It is not just an ecclesial celebration, but also a celebration of who we are as a

people and nation. Christianity is so unique in that despite the numerous religions that Filipinos

have been exposed to it is the only one that our nation through the centuries have chosen and

continue to embrace and flourish. Our values and cultural heritage has been shaped and have

come to define Filipinos by our Christian identity.

The incredible significance of remembering our Christian faith this quincentennial to our

nations history. The remembrance of history that cannot be denied by anybody no matter what

attempts they employ. Like the first mass happened in Limasawa. Through history we

remember our hospitable ancestor. They were the first to welcome the Faith Christianity and we

preserve nowadays.

Second, about Evangelization. Through remembering 500 years of christianity, we move

forward to the next evangelization, maybe in our neighborhood, town, country or may other

countries since other countries need more evangelization since before they were the one who

evangelized us but as time goes by their christian's faith vanished and now its our time to

evangelize them.
 Furthermore, through this celebration it strenghtens our faith as a christian. We recognize

that a lot has still to be improved in the way we live the faith. It still has to be purified,

deepened and fortified.

On the other hand, as a youth there's a lot of things that we can do to spread, evangelize, or

increase our Christian faith. As Christian young people, we also need to be an example to others

in our faith. This means that we must know what we believe and we must know why we believe

it.

For me an effective way to spread faith is to plant seeds and allow the Holy Spirit to take

root within others. You have the relationships with the people around you already, and you can

be the one who encourages them, offers prayers, and lives out the Bible so as to be an example

of God's love and grace. Treat everyone as an equal. Whatever their status in life or profession,

remember that all people are God's creation and deserve a chance to be understood.

Moreover, by encouraging them to join in a youth ministry is one way I can help to spread

christianity. By inspiring them with words of God, sharing my experiences in the ministry for

almost 6 years, my faith, and what I had learned would be a great help.

We have been chosen and truly gifted with the faith. This carries a great responsibility.We

gratefully accept the gift, we develop it, and now it is our turn to pass it on to the others.