A true friend doesn’t just accept you as you are — they challenge you toward holiness, Bishop Rufino Sescon Jr. of Balanga told thousands of young Catholics Sunday.
Speaking during Mass for the 12th Philippine Conference on New Evangelization’s youth gathering at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Sescon offered a three-part definition of friendship.
“The true friend, the real friend, the best friend, is the one who introduces us to Jesus,” Sescon said in his homily. “A true friend is one who lovingly challenges us to holiness, to truth, to goodness.”
Reflecting on the conference theme “Sangkay,” Sescon said the Visayan word for friend means more than being close to someone — it’s a call to become a true follower and messenger of Christ.
“Evangelization begins not with programs, but with persons; not with structures, but with relationships; not with slogans or campaigns, but with friendships,” he said.
Faith itself, he said, starts with a relationship, not a set of teachings.
“Christianity begins not with a doctrine, but with a friendship,” Sescon said. “Friendship is not a strategy. It is the first language of the Gospel.
The Church, he added, should not be seen merely as an institution with rules and offices.
“The Church is not merely an organization, but a community — a friendship of missionary disciples,” he said.
Sescon noted that many young people feel lonely today despite being constantly connected online. He urged them to look out for one another, especially peers struggling with loneliness, family problems, addiction, injustice or hopelessness.
The greatest gift one can give a friend, he said, isn’t money or things — it’s helping that friend meet Jesus.
Sescon closed his homily with a challenge for the young Catholics to carry back to their schools and communities: “Befriend Jesus. From being a friend, become His disciple. From being a disciple, become His missionary.”
