Filipino bishop invites newly confirmed Claretian students to be true soldiers of Christ

A Filipino bishop told students of a Catholic school to be soldiers of Christ.

Bishop Elias L. Ayuban, Jr., head of the Diocese of Cubao, has encouraged the newly confirmed students of Claret School of Quezon City to be true soldiers of Christ.

In his homily, the Filipino prelate told the students that through the sacrament of confirmation, “you are made soldiers of Christ.”

“You are soldiers of Christ, not with the arms that kill, but with the arms of truth and love,” he said.

Ayuban also reminded the students that when they were young and baptized, the priest asked them questions that they were not in a position yet to answer, like ‘Do you reject Satan?’ and ‘Do you believe in God?’ that their parents and godparents had to answer for them.

“But now you are already grown up,” the bishop said. “Considered to become soldiers of Christ, and you answer for yourselves.”

Ayuban told the students, "The soldiers of Christ should stand for Christ."

“Soldiers of Christ who are not ashamed and afraid to proclaim the Truth, especially in this time when many voices are speaking to us, voices that divide us,” he said. “Listen to God because these voices confuse us and polarize us, especially when we talk about fake news and disinformation.”

He urged the Claretian students to stand for truth in this time of divisions among the people as a result of disinformation.

“Today is exceptional because you are going to receive the greatest gift that you could ever imagine—the gift of the Holy Spirit,” the prelate said.

The sacrament of confirmation is a “gift, not because you deserve it, but because God loves you,” Ayuban told the students. “The sacrament of confirmation, like any other sacrament, is a testimony of God’s love for each of us.”

“This sacrament is not done only here,” he said. “We cannot say that after this sacrament ‘I’m done with the sacrament of confirmation.’”

The bishop asserted that sharing would complete the gift of the sacrament of confirmation.

“The gift is meant to be shared,” he said. “That’s why you are gifted to give" The sacred oil will anoint you for a mission, not for yourself, but for others.

The newly confirmed students should nurture and make the sacrament grow into a life of prayer, he said.

The prelate encouraged the students to pray for themselves, family, and loved ones. He also asked them to invite friends to Sunday church “because this gift has to grow.”

The sacrament of confirmation is a gift, a responsibility, and a mission, the prelate said.

Ayuban desired that students become "true soldiers of Christ, armed not with guns nor weapons, but with the truth of Christ and the Gospel." Be soldiers of Christ. Be soldiers of the Church.”

The prelate confirmed 80 students of Claret School of Quezon City on its campus in the same city on Sunday, March 23.

The Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or Claretians, run Claret School of Quezon City, a private Catholic basic education institution.