An encounter with Christ should lead to bold proclamations of faith, a Catholic archbishop told youth leaders at the Third Northern Luzon Youth Forum on Sunday, the first such gathering in nearly two decades.
“If it is Jesus who calls you, if it is Jesus who touches you, you cannot help but proclaim Him,” Archbishop Ricardo Baccay of Tuguegarao said during the forum’s closing Mass on Sunday at San Telmo Parish in Aparri, Cagayan.
Reflecting on the Laetare Sunday Gospel of the man born blind, he said the deeper miracle was not simply the restoration of sight but the man’s transformation as he gradually recognized who Jesus was.
“He first said, ‘He is a man.’ Then he said, ‘He is a prophet.’ And finally he said, ‘I believe,’” Baccay said. “That is the transformation we hope for: that encounter with Christ will lead us to proclaim Him and to love Him.”
The archbishop, who chairs youth affairs in the ecclesiastical region, also reminded participants that their mission begins at home.
“I send you back to your dioceses, parishes and communities, but, in a very special way, to your homes,” he said. “Tell your parents that the Church cares for the home. I send you home to make a home.”
About 150 youth ministers and leaders from 13 ecclesiastical territories joined the four-day forum hosted by the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao from March 12 to 15. The gathering marked the first Northern Luzon Youth Forum in 18 years, following assemblies in Baguio in 1997 and Vigan in 2007.
Carrying the theme “Called, Gathered, and Sent: Young People Journeying in Faith and Mission” (Luke 24:32), the forum invited participants to deepen their encounter with Christ while shaping the future direction of youth ministry in Northern Luzon.
Fr. Dave Remudaro, regional director of the Northern Luzon Regional Youth Coordinating Council, said the forum aimed to help youth leaders update pastoral approaches in response to the challenges young people face today.
“The guide that we had was no longer fully aligned with the situation of young people today,” Remudaro said. “That is why we gathered them to help them craft a renewed approach that responds to their realities and aligns with the pastoral vision of the Church in Northern Luzon.”
Workshops also highlighted the family as the first place of evangelization and encouraged youth ministers to help strengthen family relationships.
“Many of our ministers themselves come from broken families,” Remudaro added. “That is why youth ministry must help rebuild relationships and guide young people in understanding themselves and their place in the Church.”
Amarjet Singh, 29, a youth minister from Mary Magdalene Mission Parish in Lagawe, Ifugao, said building relationships within families is key to reaching young people.
“It’s very important to build good relationships with them because that’s where we become relevant in their lives,” Singh said. “If we don’t have a relationship with them, they won’t listen.”
Participants also pointed to the strong influence of social media on young people and the need to create digital spaces where they can encounter Christ. Singh cited Carlo Acutis as an example of holiness in the digital age.
“In our mission territories, we really go on mission. We go to where the people are: Basic Ecclesial Communities, the mountains, and now also in the digital space,” she shared.
The forum gathered youth leaders from the archdioceses of Tuguegarao, Nueva Segovia, and Lingayen-Dagupan; the dioceses of San Fernando in La Union, Alaminos, Urdaneta, Ilagan, Laoag, Bayombong, Baguio and Bangued; and the apostolic vicariates of Tabuk and Bontoc-Lagawe.
Organizers expressed hope the participants would return to their communities renewed in faith and ready to proclaim Christ.