FILIPINO YOUTH

IN MISSION:
BELOVED, GIFTED,
EMPOWERED
A Recollection Module for the Grade 11 of
University of Perpetual Help System Dalta - Calamba Campus

CHRISTIAN B. PAJUTAN
San Pablo Theological Formation House
Brgy. San Jose, SVD Road, Tagaytay City
MMXIX
OBJECTIVES
1. To introduce the value of the Filipino youth in the society
2. To challenge the Filipino youth to participate in the mission of the Church of bringing the
good news to others, especially to those who are wounded by poverty, corruption and
division
3. To invite the Filipino youth to an intimate relationship with God as they discover and feel
His presence in their ordinary daily activities

SCHEDULE

8:00am - 8:30am Preparation

Settling Down

8:30am - 9:00am Opening Prayer

GTK Activity
Orientation/Opening Activity

9:00am - 10:00am Talk: Beloved, Gifted, Empowered

10:00am - 10:30am Break Time

10:30am - 11:00am Activity

11:00am - 11:30am Small Group Sharing

11:30am - 12:00nn Big Group Sharing

Deepening

12:00nn Lunch Break

1:00pm - 1:15pm Settling Down

1:15pm - 1:30pm Ice Breaker Activity

1:30pm - 2:30pm Catechesis: Youth in Mission

2:30pm - 3:00pm Activity or Paraliturgy

3:00pm Eucharistic Celebration

OPENING ACTIVITY: CHILD, YOUTH, ADULT
On a manila paper, or whiteboard, the facilitator will put three columns: Child, Youth,
Adult. As an opening activity, the facilitator will ask the participants to put an adjective in each
column. For example, one of them put in the “Child” column the word “dependent”. And another
participant will put on the “Adult” column the adjective “independent”. They will do this in five
to ten minutes. After this, the facilitator will read the adjectives in each column and then reflect
on them. This will serve as an introduction to the talk. He may use the activity as an example for
the talk.

BELOVED, GIFTED, EMPOWERED

To be in the “youth period” is very crucial. The youth age is different from being a child
and at the same time being an adult. As we have seen in the activity, we realize that the “youth
period” is a transitional period. It is a period where we somehow leave the “child period” going
to the “adult period”. It is crucial because changes happen mostly in this period of man.
Nowadays, I know there is this great pressure in you. Why? Because as you can see, the world is
so wounded. Poverty is around us, corruption is very obvious, divisions continuously wound our
society. The youth of today are pressured because many of the adult look unto us. They keep
telling us that we are the future! Jose Rizal would say, “You are the hope of the nation.” Pag-asa
ng bayan. And because we are the so-called “pag-asa” many people are “umaasa” to us. You
may not feel this “umaasa” from the society but you may experience this in your own families.
There are parents who are “umaasa” to us that we will finish our studies and we will help them
out from the poverty of life and other problems. In this pressure that we are experiencing, we
encounter so many problems. Sometimes, people do not understand what we are going through.
There are people who just focused themselves to the future, to what we must do, and never tried
to look at the now, to what we are experiencing today. I am not saying the Jose Rizal is wrong in
pointing out that we are the “Pag-asa ng bayan.” But I am emphasizing the value of looking also
to the now. How are you treated now as young persons? What is the condition of your heart now,
as a human person? How is your relationships with your families, friends and other people? Are
those relationships keep you going in life or they hinder you to move on? If the now is not seen,
if the now is not realized, if the now is not formed properly, the future falls away. The future
starts now. This is why, in our seminary, there is this dictum, “History is prophecy,” what you
are today will have a greater effect in your future. Your decisions today, will have a greater
impact on your future. What you are today, maybe, will be the same in the future. If you are lazy
today, and you don’t want to study or to bear sufferings and challenges, then in the future, that
will be the same. You will not be able to cope up with life, with the job that you will choose,
with the family that you wish to preserve and protect. The future starts now. And this is the word
of Pope Francis in the World Youth Day that happened in Panama last January, “You are the
now of God.” This is why today, we will reflect on your own “Now”. In reflecting on our “now”
we try to also reflect on our “yesterday” and “tomorrow”. We reflect on our values, on our
experiences. We are going to fix our self that lives in the “now” who is wounded by the
“yesterday” and pressured by “tomorrow”. We need healing, we need transformation now. The
future starts now. And I am not putting pressure on you today. But I want you to understand that
the pressure now is not with you, but with me, with the Church, with the society. How are we
going to inspire you, to form you, and to challenge you to become better men and women of the
society today.
 This is why the Church in the Philippines, in preparation to the 500th Anniversary of the
arrival of Christianity the Philippines, celebrates this year the Year of the Youth. This is a year to
remind the young people of the message of God: you are Beloved, you are Gifted and you are
empowered. These will allow us to discover once again the beauty of our life. We need to
discover again the meaning found in the within our little experiences in life. May this
recollection be the way for you to look at once again the value of yourselves, especially in the
heart of God. You are Beloved, you are Gifted and you are Empowered. Many of us forget these
three important reality in our lives. As we forget these realities, we end up depressed,
uncontented and wounded from the difficulties and challenges we encounter in this life. Let us
now turn to the message of the year of the youth to us.

BELOVED
Beloved simply means you are loved. In every tick of the clock, you are loved. There is
no moment in our lives that we are not loved. Sometimes we see ourselves as lonely people,
where in no one is ready to love us. Man is in constant search for that someone who will love
him forever. Sadly, we limit the term “love” only in exclusive only in exclusive relationships
such as boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife. We look for love in wrong places and wrong
persons. But we never realize that love can also be found in the most ordinary experience that we
have. First, our experience with our family. The family is an avenue to experience love. The
family is the home of love. It is here where we first experienced to be loved. Everyone of us
started from a family. And your life in the family does not start on the moment you were born,
but rather at the very moment that you are conceived, you are already special. Mothers keep the
child on their womb as precious as gold. They are important, you are important. Even if you are
just tiny cell in the womb of the mother, with tiny fingers, tiny feet, and tiny heart, you are
important. You are already a human person that time that received love from your parents.
Imagine how excited they were to your birth, to see you and to finally touch you with their
concrete love. Ask yourselves, do I still see my family as a source of love for me? Do I still
recognize their love? Do I still appreciate them? Maybe, some of us would say no, because we
are fruits of broken family, or abandoned, or parents who are working abroad or somewhere else
and sometimes do not spend enough time for us. But I still put my faith, that wherever they are,
they love you because you are their child. But dear friends, love here on earth sometimes is not
that perfect. Love has its imperfections. Human love has imperfections. Nagkukulang din ang
pag-ibig ng tao. Maybe you are experiencing this. Sometimes your thinking, you are not loved
because the love that was given to you or shown to you is imperfect. It lacks something. But it
does not mean that because love is imperfect, we will not appreciate anymore. Pope Francis
would say, “Love does not need to be perfect to value it.” At the end of the day, it is still love.
There are just situations wherein love cannot reach its fullness. But it still love. And love do its
best just to be felt by the beloved. Your family loves you. If not really, then do not be
disappointed. Do not allow yourself to be filled with hatred. Do not let your heart to become
unforgiving, full of grudges and hate. It does not mean that you will not be healed anymore
because of the brokenness you have in your family. Forgive. Forgive so that someday, you know
what to do. Someday, you will not end up in that situation. Your children will not experience
what you are experiencing. But forgive and love still because you deserve peace. Maybe, there
are people who don’t deserve our forgiveness, but we deserve peace. Don’t become suicidal or
so depressed if you experienced brokenness in your family, friends and other people. Remember,
even if the whole world failed to love you, there is this One that will never fail in loving you:
God. God tells you, “You are my beloved.” God loves you more than you know. Simply because
He is love Himself. He is the perfect love that you are looking for. The love from your family,
the love from your friends are extensions of His love for you. This is why, even if there are
people who will fail to love you, do not forget the reality that God will fail loving you. You are
beloved. And everyday, He is waiting for you to recognize His love given to you. But please
understand, that sometimes, love comes to us not in a very pleasurable experience, but in a
disappointing and painful experience. God’s love is sometimes painful for us. His love for us
sometimes is so demanding. His love for us sometimes disguise in a very unpleasant situation.
But why God is like that? I thought love brings joy and serenity. Love is sometimes painful to
develop us, to mold us, and to make us better persons. True joy and true serenity does not come
in just one click. It is fashioned by pain and sacrifices so that it will become genuine happiness.
You are loved even in the most painful part of your life. So please, do not forget to recognize this
love not just in happy moments but also in the bad and sad moments that we have. You are
loved. We are loved. But the question now is, how do you allow yourself to be loved?

GIFTED
To say that we are gifted is to say that we are lucky. Hindi tayo malas. We have so many
gifts in life. You have many things in your life that you needed. Some do not have what you
have. You are lucky. The challenge here is to recognize your giftedness. As you recognize your
giftedness, be happy and contented in life. Count the things that you have and not the things that
you do not have. What makes us sad is the reality that we always count what we don’t have. We
keep envying on those people who are rich, living in a pleasurable life, getting all the things they
wanted. We have a dictum that “the grass is always greener on the other side.” This means that
we always look at on the other side and do not appreciate what we have right now. We have a
trend post today about boasting what you already achieved in life. For example, you can see a
post, “22 years old, may kotse na, ikaw?” But giftedness is not measure to the amount you
received, but it is measured on the happiness we put on the things that we receive. How
contented are we? How grateful are we? That is true giftedness. Material things will pass away,
but the genuine happiness from God, will not. Remember, everything comes in perfect timing, in
God’s perfect time. There are prayers that will be answered, prayers that will be denied, and also
prayers that will be heard and the answer, “wait”. So in whatever situation you have right now,
be thankful! Nowadays, we cannot appreciate the gifts that we have because the only gift that we
can recognize is gadgets/technologies. You are very happy if somebody gives you a cellphone or
a tablet or whatever it is. Gifts now are digital. People are not happy nowadays in personal
greetings and intimate relationship. They are more happy in digital affirmations. Most of us see
ourselves as gifted if we gain more likes, hearts and wow in our facebook posts. The measure of
our giftedness depends on the viewers, the likers of our posts. Giftedness is now digital also.
Technologies are not bad, but if it leads us to frustration because we earn less likes, then we must
be warned. Dear friends, we are gifted. There is no reason for us to become sad. There is no
reason for us not to become grateful. Giftedness is seen in our gratefulness. Discover your
giftedness. Accept yourself, for who you are, for what you have right now. May we utter also the
words of St. Teresa of Avila, “I trust God, that I am where I am meant to be.”
EMPOWERED
You are not just to receive love and gifts. But you are also given the power to love and
become a gift for others. You have the ability to love, you are empowered. Thus, you are always
called to do your best. Do not let you weaknesses eat you. They are weaknesses that are meant to
become our truest strength. Overcome them. To say that you are empowered is to say also that
God is always with you. He will not abandon you. Thus, there are no problems or things that can
let you down. If you are with God, then no one can hinder you in achieving your dreams. So, be
a man full of faith and hope. Be the best that you can be for the world. If you are struggling with
your subjects, do not worry, try and try until you die. But to console you, remember, most great
people that we know are not that intelligent. Some of them experienced failing grades, sent out
from classrooms because they were caught sleeping. They became great because of one thing:
they tried. They did their best and trusted that they have the power to become great. And as
Christians, our great power is God. Even if you are not intelligent, even if you don’t have that
good looking, even if you think you have lesser skills, even if you are always shy, even if you
experience failure in every work that you do, you are empowered by God. These failures does
not mean that you will not succeed in life. Use these struggles, these problems, these failures as
your ladder to reach the goal you are aiming at. Do not give up. You have the power, and that
power is to be with God. Pray harder. He is within you. You are empowered. You have the
power to remain in Him who has all the power to conquer the world. Have faith and hope. At the
end, love.

THE NOW OF GOD

You are the now of God. This is why you are beloved, gifted and empowered. In short,
you are important. You are important not just in the future, but right now. Please, tap yourself at
times you feel that you don’t purpose in life, at times you don’t have that enthusiasm to do your
studies, at times relationships are seemingly cold, at times you don’t want to fight anymore. It is
okay to rest for a while, to put a comma in life. But do not put period. Do not give up. You are
the now of God. Everyday, each now, God wanted you to become successful and happy in life.
He always there for you. Do not forget to pray. He loves you, He gives you many things, above
the all, He gives His very self to you to empower you. He is your great lover, giver and source of
power.
 CATECHESIS:
MAN IN THE EYES OF GOD

SELF-WORTH
This morning we talk about three important points about ourselves. We are beloved, we are
gifted and we are empowered. This time, we will go deeper to our own worth as children of God.
Now, to understand more deeply, we will go back to the story of how God created man in a
certain purpose and meaning. Ano ba talaga ang tao? Bakit ba talaga tayo nilikha ng Diyos?

THE CREATION STORY

We will now return to the first experience of man. And where can we find this? In the creation
story. Dito natin makikita kung paano tayo nilikha ng Diyos at ano ‘yung tunay na tawag sa atin
ng Diyos. There Three Important Original that we must understand. Ano itong mga Original na
ito? Ito ‘yung mga original plan ng Diyos para sa atin bago pa man tayo magkasala. Through
these originals, we can find the true worth that we must have.

ORIGINAL SOLITUDE
God created the earth according to Genesis in 7 days. This is the first account of creation. Sa
loob ng 6 na araw, lumilikha siya ng maraming bagay, at sa ika-7 araw Siya ay nagpahinga.
Kailan ginawa ng Diyos ang tao? He created man on the 6th day. Siya ‘yung last na ginawa.
Now, bakit siya ‘yung last na ginawa? E kung talagang mahalaga sa Diyos ang tao, dapat siya
‘yung unang ginawa? The real story behind this is that, God prepared everything for man.
Ginawa ng Diyos lahat, inihanda ng Diyos ang lahat para pagdating ng tao, okay na. So in this,
we see that everything is prepared for man, because man is the crown of creation. Anong ibig
sabihin ng crown of creation? Siya ‘yung climax ng creation. At makikit niyo sa Genesis kung
bakit siya ang climax. Because among the many creature that God made, it is only man whom
He gave His very self. God created man in His own image and likeness. Doon pa lang, nakalagay
na ang katotohanan, na sa simula pa lang, ang buhay ng tao ay laging nakakonekta sa buhay ng
Diyos! Hindi naman ibinigay ng Diyos ‘yung image at likeness sa kabayo, sa unggoy o sa baboy.
He gave it to man!

As you can see in the second account of creation, naroon ‘yung detailed na paggawa sa unang
tao. Sino ang unang tao? Si Adan. At paano ginawa si Adan? Kumuha ng putik. Si Adan ay
galing sa putik. ‘Yung lang ba ang ingredient para likhain ang tao, hindi! Meroon pang kulang.
Kasi noong hinulma ng Diyos si Adan sa putik, meroon ng katawan si Adan pero wala pa siyang
buhay. So anong ginawa ng Diyos para magkaroon siya ng buhay? Hiningahan ng Diyos ang tao.
So ano ang ingredients para malikha ang unang tao? Putik at Hininga ng Diyos. And this is a
reality today. A person is compose of a body (putik) and soul (hininga ng Diyos). Kaya itong
putik, naaagnas, mortal, namamatay. But, the soul is immortal and it will return from where it
came.

After God created the first man who is Adam. What happened next? Adam is alone. Mag-isa si
Adan. Ang tawag sa pag-iisa nitong si Adan ay original solitude. Kapag sinabi nating mag-isa si
Adan, hindi ibig sabihin nito na literal na walang kasama si Adan. Bagkus ang ibig sabihin nito
ay mag-isa si Adan at naghahanap siya ng katulad niya. May kasama si Adan, ‘yung mga hayop,
pero ni-isa wala siyang katulad doon. Naghahanap siya ng katulad niya, katulad niyang tao din.
Anong ibig sabihin nito? Una, ​MAN IS A UNIQUE BEING​. Iba siya sa iba pang nilikha. Kasi
noong nalungkot siya dahil mag-isa siya, naghanap siya ng katuld. Tiningnan niya ‘yuyng
unggoy, hindi naman niya kamukha. Tiningnan niya ‘yung baboy, hindi naman niya katulad,
tiningnan niya ‘yung Giraffe, mas lalong hindi niya kamukha! He is unique. Kaya yung mga
naniniwala kay Charles Darwin that we came from apes, bahala kayo. Kung gusto niyong
maging unggoy e. Pero the first man knew that he did not came from apes because he is different
among any other creatures. Ikalawa, ​MAN IS A REFLECTING BEING​. Anong ibig sabihin
nito? Sa lahat ng nilikha ng Diyos, tanging tao lang ang nagnilay at naghanap ng katulad ng sarili
niya. Thus, there is a special ability in man, and that is to reflect. Siya lang ‘yung may
kakayahang mag-isip. Kaya katotohanan na ito simula pa man, nilikha ng Diyos ang tao hindi
para maging hayop na hindi nag-iisip at hindi nagninilay. So in every decision, we are called to
think and reflect. Kapag nagdesisyon ka ng hindi ka nag-iisip at nagninilay, magtanong tanong
ka na, tao kaya ako? And the last point of Original Solitude is the reality that ​MAN IS AN
IMPERFECT BEING​. Sa pag-iisa ni Adan, nalungkot siya. Anong ibig sabihin ng nalungkot
dito? May kulang sa kaniya. Kaya siya naghahanap ng katulad kasi napagnilayan niyang hindi
niya kayang mag-isa, kailangan niya ng makakasama, kailangan niya ng isang tao na kukumpleto
sa kaniya. And this is would lead us to the second original.

ORIGINAL UNITY
At dito papasok ang ikalawang tao sa kuwento. Si Eba o ang babae sa buhay ni Adan. Dahil sa
kalungkutan ni Adan, at sa paghahanap niya ng kukumpleto sa kaniya, nilikha ng Diyos si Eba.
Pero ano naman ang ingredients ng paglikha kay Eba? Tingnan natin. Una, pinatulog si Adan.
Ikalawa, kumuha ang Diyos sa tadyang ni Adan at ginawang si Eba. Ayan ang ingredients ng
paggawa kay Eba. Ibig sabihin ba nito, magkaiba ang ingredients na ginamit ng Diyos sa
paglikha kay Eba? Ibig sabihin ba nito, dahil kumuha ang Diyos sa tadyang ni Adan, ay utang na
loob ni Eba ang buhay niya kay Adan? At kung wala si Adan ay hindi mabubuhay si Eba? Hindi.
Ito ang tunay na translation ng kuwento. Ang una, pinatulog si Adan. Hindi ito literal na
pagpapatulog. Pero ito ay isang mensahe na si Adan ay tulog noong ginawa si Eba. Ibig sabihin
walang kinalaman si Adan sa paggawa kay Eba. Hindi tumulong si Adan sa paggawa kay Eba,
tulog siya! Ngayon ikalawa, kumuha ang Diyos sa tadyang ni Adan. Sa English God took a “rib”
from Adam. Pero sa salitang Hebrew, in the original text, ‘yung salitang “rib” ay ang ibig sabihin
ay “life”. So hindi literal na kumuha ang Diyos sa tadyang ni Adan. Dahil kung nagkayon, baka
pagkagising ni Adan, ‘yung katawan niya nakatagilid kasi kulang siya ng buto! Ikaw kaya, tulog
ka tapos kuhanan ka ng buto, tingnan ko lang kung hindi ka mamilipit sa sakit! Ang ibig sabihin
noong salitang “life” na ang katumbas ay “rib” ay ginaya ng Diyos ang paglikha kay Adan. Kung
paano nilikha si Adan, ganoon din niya nilikha si Eba. Ibig sabihin, pantay lang sila. At dito
papasok ‘yung tinawatag na Original Unity. ​MAN IS MEANT FOR COMMUNION.​ Anong
ibig sabihin nito? Noong nagising si Adan at nakita niya si Eba, anong sabi ni Adan “This is the
flesh of my flesh and bone of my bones.” In other words, “Ito’yung hinahanap ko, ang taong
kukumpleto sa buhay ko.” And what is the fitting word here? LOVE. Yes, dear friends, it is
through loving others that we can complete ourselves. Kaya ang sarap sa pakiramdam ng
minamahal ka at nagmamahal ka. Because that is the moment of communion, that is a moment of
completion within you. ‘Yung Adan na imperfect, nagiging perfect dahil sa pag-ibig. Kaya, man
is not meant for division but in communion. From the very beginning, Man is meant to love and
be loved. This is original unity. It is only true love that can make you happy. Oo, may mga taong
hindi nag-aasawa, but they can still find great joy by loving his neighbor. And that is true love
indeed!

ORIGINAL NAKEDNESS
And this will lead us to the last original that God planned for us. Original Nakedness. Nandoon
‘yung description na si Adan at Eba ay parehas hubad. Bago sila magkasala, hindi sila nagtatago
o nagtatakip ng mga ari nila. Pero noong kinain nila ‘yung ipinagbabawal na prutas, bigla silang
nagtago at nagtakip ng mga dahon dahon sa katawan nila. Anong ibig sabihin ba nitong Orignal
Nakedness? Una, ​MAN IS NATURALLY GOOD​. Wala siyang masamang intensyon sa
kaniyang kapwa. Kaya alam ni Eba at Adan sa isa’t isa na kahit hubad sila hindi nila sasaktan
ang isa’t isa. Naandoon ‘yung malaking pagtitiwala nila sa isa’t isa kasi alam nilang
nagmamahalan sila. Kaya hindi sila nahihiya. Alam ni Eba na hindi siya pagsasamantalahan ni
Adan, at ganun din si Adan, na hindi siya pagsasamanatalahan ni Eba. Thus, this lead us to the
second point, ​MAN IS A SUBJECT AND NOT AN OBJECT​. HIndi manggagamit ang tao.
He treats the other as a subject and not an object. Pinahahalagahan niya ang kaniyang kapwa. But
you look at what happened after they sinned. Nagtago sila at nagtakip. Bakit, kasi ‘yung
pagkakasala nila ay hindi lang basta pagkakasala ng disobedience. Ang pagkakasala nila ay pride
and greed! Tingnan niyo ‘yung tukso noong ahas, kapag kinain niyo yan magiging katulad ng
Diyos. Natukso sila doon. At noong tanungin sila ng Diyos kung bakit niyo kinain ‘yung
ipinagbabawal ko? Anong ginawa ni Adan, itinuro si Eba, “Yan kasing babaeng binigay mo e,
binigyan pa ako!” At anog si Eba, “Yang ahas tinukso ako.” Nagsimula na ang away. Noong
wala pa naman ‘yung kasalanan si Eba at si Adan ay hindi nag-aaway. Pero noong pumasok
‘yung kasalanan, nagsumbatan na sila. See dear friends? ‘Yung tao pagkatapos ng pagkakasala
ay naging object na at hindi na subject! Kaya nagtago sila kasi feeling nila gagamitin nila ang
isa’t isa, sasaktan nila ang isa’t isa gaya ng ginawa nila sa Diyos.
MY ORIGINAL CALL
Am I still doing my original call? To love? After we hear this, let us remember na maraming
beses lumayo tayo sa mga original na ito. We fail to become truly human. We fail to become the
true image of God to other people. But this is not the end. Jesus died on the cross to bring back
the dignity that we lost. He died just to reconcile us to the Father. Ang tanging daan para bumalik
tayo sa mga original na ito ay sundan ang yapak ni Kristo. And the steps of Jesus is simple yet
challenging, this is the steps of love. Our worth, our call.