Instead of vacationing, go on spiritual retreat, bishop urges graduates

While graduation is near and summer is almost at the doorstep, a Church official reminded students to allot time to attend recollection and undergo spiritual retreat as it is also the season of Lent.

Legazpi Bishop Joel Baylon said there is nothing wrong with going on a vacation to celebrate the end of another school year, but he reminded the youth that “life is not all about celebrations.”

“Lent is giving us the opportunity not only to assess our sinfulness but also time to reflect on our lives: what we have been and where we are going,” he said.

Baylon, who chairs the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth, urged students to see the Lenten season as an appropriate time to find the deeper values of life, beyond its external luster of caprice, leisure and luxury. 

“There are more to life than temporary things. If you want to be really happy, don’t settle for shallow source of happiness. Try to see beyond the external meaning of life,” he added.

The prelate also invited the young faithful to gather their friends and attend together summer camps and leadership conferences being organized by the parishes near them and youth organizations in their community to make their summer vacation more meaningful.

“While it is great to be with friends on vacation, it is also fulfilling to be with them in attending summer camps, youth conferences or Bible study classes, which are alternative activities this summer where they can even learn a lot from,” he added. (YouthPinoy)