AFTER a month since its launching, “prayers’’ from the online prayer network ‘Barkada ni Pedro’ in honor of Blessed Pedro Calungsod have increased to almost 2,000.
This Facebook page named ‘Barkada ni Pedro’ (BNP) was launched last Aug. 6 and was created by the Cebu Archdiocesan Youth Commission to provide a place for people who need someone to pray for them.
“If cyberspace is connecting people, prayer is also connecting ourselves to everyone and to God. If Pedro Calungsod were alive today, he could have been a facebook user too,” said Msgr. Arthur Navales, the commission chairman.
To join this online community, go to www.facebook.com/barkadanipedro and click “like.” There are two activities a prayer can do on BNP: to pray and to be prayed for. One can post a prayer intention in the field ‘Write Something…’ which is transformed into a ‘pray box.’
Example is “Pray Box: My mama is not feeling well, please pray for her.” While, if you want to commit to pray for the person’s intention, click the ‘like’ button of the posted intention.
The prayer intentions posted in BNP will be offered during the 6 p.m. Mass every Friday at the Archdiocesan Youth Center on P. Gomez Street beside the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
Pedro Calungsod, a young missionary worker who was killed in Guam in 1672, will be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome on Oct. 21.