1. Walk with faith
When you walk with faith in your heart, you’ll never walk alone for God is there. And even when you walk through the storm, you can hold you head up high and not be afraid for the light of Christ dispels the darkness. In the history of Israel as a nation, God walked with them even in the wilderness of Sinai. At night, God was a pillar of light; at noon, God was a pillar of cloud. God has walked with me in High School, University, Seminary, Marriage, Priesthood and Mission Works spanning from Manila, Kenya, Singapore and now the United States.

2. I mitate Christ
Thomas A’ Kempis, the mystical writer who wrote “Imitation of Christ” says that Christ is the perfect image of manhood. Christ is fully human and fully divine. The bible tells we are created in the image of God but this image is mudded perfect because of sin. We are like seeing a mirror that is dim, Have you ever seen yourself in a mirror dimly? Jesus is the clean mirror of our soul. So if we must follow the road to perfection, Christ must be your model. He is the model of faith, of hope and of love.

3. Never give up
Failure and success are two sides of the coin. Success is failure turned upside down and failure is success turned inside up. When you fail, always remember that failure is never final. And when you succeed, always remember it’s just one degree to another. Whatever happens, never give up on life. The best is yet to be.

4. Nothing is impossible
Why should you not give up? Because nothing is impossible! In Tagalog we have a saying “Walang matimtimang birhen sa matiyagang manalangin.” Jesus told this story of about a single mother who was appealed to the judge to pardon her teenage son. Jesus used this parable to illustrate “unceasing prayer.” If you have a noble dream, pursue that dream, never giving-up until it become yours.

5. Emulate the heroes and saints
The Bible tells us to listen to our parents, our leaders, our heroes and saints and emulate their life and their faith.

While St. Peter says to the Church, “let’s go to the world”; St. Paul says to the world, “let us come to the Church.”

6. Resist temptations
Let me get this straight: You are like my own children since I know most of you and your parents. There are three areas that you will be tempted: Sex, Money and Pride. If you yield to these temptations, chances are you may not be able to reach your dreams::

a. Sex - When I was in the Philippines, we had a jingle which says, “anugon, anugon, estudyante karon. Sila nag-eskwela, may live-in, live-in na.” They came to the university to have an M.D. degree. Because they could not control their passion, instead of an Medical Degree it became unplanned Marriage Degree.

b. Money- Education is very expensive and so if you study from your parents’ income, do not to spend it on vices like drugs, cigarettes or alcohol. Do not be tempted by the lifestyle of other teen-agers who want new and fast cars. Learn to live simply and not live beyond your parents means

c. Pride – When you are in your parents’ home, you are under their authority. You should know time are you expected at home, what kind of berks you should keep, what kind of dresses you should wear, what kind of boyfriend or girlfriend you should go with. Do not be overcome by pride that you do not listen to your parents’ advise. The Book of Proverb says, “an obedient child is a joy to his parents but a stupid son brings grief.”

7. Serve the Lord with gladness
Finally, whatever you do, do it as if serving the Lord. Let me conclude by this little parable about the Potter and Clay. When you’re in God’s hands, you must learn how to be patient. Then the Potter dried up the clay under the sun. The time of preparation includes being disciplined. Then the Potter put the clay into the oven. When you’re under the crucible of suffering, remember that God controls the oven. Finally, the Potter took out the clay from the oven, blow His own spirit and lo and behold, it was a perfect image of his son.

As God’s young people, you are being molded in the image of His Son, Jesus Christ as Lord. It requires patience, perseverance, faith, hope and love. You will be tried and tested but as in Romans 8: 37 “In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.”