Some 7,800 young people listened to Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes' talk about how doubt can actually be a good thing.
MARIKINA City, April 9, 2013—In a very apt Easter message to some 7,800 young people last Sunday, a bishop explained how God can use even doubt for a person’s benefit and His glory.
Antipolo Bishop Gabriel Reyes talked about how Jesus was able to draw from the apostle Thomas’ doubt the greatest, singular profession of faith, which all believers proclaim during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist – “My Lord and my God!”
“Healthy” doubt
Celebrating the closing mass of the 20th CFC – Youth for Christ International Leaders’ Conference, Reyes said the simple solution to doubt is simply to talk to Jesus precisely about this lack of faith.
“We can always ask the Lord to convince us more He is alive, He loves us. If we ask for that, The Lord will give it to us,” he added.
Reyes, who also heads the CBCP–Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, said “healthy” doubt is possible – one that is always open to experience Jesus again and again in different ways.
Bishop Gabby, as he is often called, advised YFCs from the Philippines and some 11 countries all over the world to pray to God, saying, “Lord, I am as human as the apostles…Let me experience You as alive and loving me.”
He calls your name
According to Reyes, some people can, in fact, attest to “first class miracles” like being cured instantly from a terminal illness, but most of the faithful will experience God in special and personal ways to realize that He is indeed alive.
In closing, Reyes encouraged the thousands of young people to seek God in prayer as a solid and sure means of being close to Jesus.
“[In] prayer, He will call your name the same way He called Mary Magdalene. You will experience in your whole self that the Lord is there calling your name,” he added.
The 20th YFC-ILC was held from April 5 to 7 at the Marikina Sports Complex. [Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]
