Pray for peace, group urges people of faith

An organization of different religious groups called on Filipinos of all faiths to spare a minute every noontime beginning July 7 to say a prayer for peace in the country.

Calling itself the “Pasa Lord Prayer Movement,” the interfaith group appealed to the public to pray wherever they are beginning on noontime of that date and every day until peace is achieved.

“We are urging Filipinos from every faith and sector of society to say the Prayer for Peace in the Philippines, or the Panalangin para sa Kapayapaan sa Pilipinas,” the group said in a statement.

It added: “We will keep praying until peace reigns in our land. Intercessors who don’t give up usually receive the reward—to see the very thing they have been praying for come to pass.”

The group is comprised of faithful from four main religious groups: the Catholic Church, Islam, the Protestant or evangelical groups, and charismatics.

The call for a prayer for peace came amid the month-long clashes between government troops and terrorists in Marawi City.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas confirmed that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines was invited to join the initiative and the prelates have agreed to participate.

According to the group’s Facebook page, https://web.facebook.com/PasaLordMove
ment/, the convenors are ordinary citizens “who have no great political clout and no vast wealth.”

“But they believe the prayer of unity changes things, so they are asking all Filipinos to pray with them for peace in the land,” it said.

The group’s name comes from the term “pasa load,” which means to transfer mobile credits among prepaid cellphone users.

“We pass on to the Lord the problems of our nation that weigh us down, woes that we are unable to or do not know how to overcome on our own,” the group said.

The prayer movement also appealed to Filipinos to spread the call to prayer with their family and friends.

“We are asking people to echo the call to prayer to their contacts, friends and family members, and to urge them to do the same so that the call will reach every Filipino in the country and the world,” it added.