18/10/2025
๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ง: ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐๐๐ฌ
๐๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐๐ถ๐จ๐ถ๐ด๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ-๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ (๐๐๐๐ ) ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐ฟ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ โ ๐ข ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐บโ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต-๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ:
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When I first came into FCCY courtesy of Fr. Joseph L. Feng, LRMS and Achi Plinky, I thought it was just another small parish organization run by the latter, a perception which persisted during my first few days in Alpha Youth. Iโve had discussions with Achi Plinky in the past about a few chapters of FCCY throughout the Philippines, but I didnโt think much of it. Then, after my Youth Encounter hosted by the St. Peter chapter, my understanding of FCCY grew, however only in a minor way due to my limited exposure to the other chapters, most of which being the St. Peter and Naga chapters.
However, this all changed when I received the invitation to attend the NDO meeting in August. Suddenly, I realized the true scale and grandeur this organization boasted, even as far as having its own national constitution and formation programs which, to be frank, overwhelmed and intimidated me at first. However, as our discussions progressed region by region, chapter by chapter, discussing each chapterโs strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities for change, I slowly gained an understanding as to how FCCY worked and what they stood for, especially after the pandemic. I learned of countless fun activities and opportunities to grow in faith and friendships through various programs and outreach activities in all chapters from Tuguegarao in the north to Zamboanga in the south, and from Tacloban in the east to Dagupan in the west. Furthermore, not only have I met new people and made new friends from all corners of the country, Iโve also been granted the opportunity to deepen my friendship with the friends and acquaintances I already have from Northern Luzon, especially the St. Jude chapter and my own home chapter, Damar.
My first time attending the NDO meeting is a truly unforgettable experience filled with enlightening discussions, fun activities, and delectable foods, however I would say the best part of the trip was the communal bedtime Rosaries I prayed with my roommates Edrich and Ahia Marvin, a practice I highly encourage others to emulate, whether within FCCY or without. Heartfelt prayer said with great intention is highly efficacious, but nothing can compare to praying together as a community and is even taught so by our Lord Himself: โ๐๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ, ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฅ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.โ (Matthew 18:19-20, RSVCE). Therefore, perhaps something I would suggest incorporating into future NDO meetings would be, not dissimilar from Pope St. John XXIIIโs prayer to the Holy Spirit before the opening of the Second Vatican Council, that the FCCY representatives come together before each session to ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of our Blessed Mother and the saints, that these discussions may bear rich fruit that will glorify the Lord on earth and in heaven.
Nevertheless, I still have one perception of FCCY that hasnโt changed since the day I first met Achi Plinky and Achi Elo until now: ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐น๐น, ๐บ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ, ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ฑโ๐ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ต, ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ. Seeing the various activities of FCCY throughout the Philippines, especially the countless outreach activities, is truly awe-inspiring and evident of Godโs grace at work in each and every one of us. I am truly thankful to God for graciously gifting the Filipino-Chinese Catholic Youth to this Pearl of the Orient Seas, acting as yet another guiding light in these especially dark times to the Islands of St. Lazarus, that the latter may yet again bear witness to the boundless love of the Father through His workings in FCCY. โ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ; ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ.โ (John 13:34-35, RSVCE).
I want to give special thanks to the NDO officers and organizers who made all these unforgettable memories possible, and I especially want to thank the Cebu chapter for being one of the most gracious hosts Iโve ever had and for sponsoring this yearโs NDO meeting, as well as Achi Brixie for hosting us at the Diane Hotel with such generous accommodations. Last but most certainly not least, I want to express deep gratitude to Achi Jeanne for magnanimously going out of her way to book our flights and check us in, Ahia Keith for arranging such auspicious hotel accommodations, and Achi Plinky for inviting me to attend the meeting in the first place and for being such a great friend.
