A little more than a month ago, I met Kritzia Santos, who turned out to be an alumna of La Salle too. I just recently graduated from La Salle last month. We swapped some stories about school, and what we’re currently doing. That’s how I learned that Kritzia is involved in some projects that has to do with the canonization of Blessed Pedro Calungsod.
I learned about Blessed Pedro Calungsod from Values Education classes in high school, and when Kritzia asked me if I could blog about him, I gladly said “yes”.
Pedro Calungsod was a teenager from the Visayas, and while very little is known about him, the most important part of his life story was how he served the Lord and died for his faith. He was friends with the missionary Padre Diego, and they were persecuted for the service that they did to spread God’s Word. It was said that he could have escaped persecution but he refused to leave his friend behind.
And what is nobler than the having the heart to die for a friend? There is much to learn from this aspect of Blessed Pedro Calungsod’s life. We don’t have to take this literally, but we can use his story as an inspiration on how we should value our friendships.
I, for one, am a big fan of friendship. I don’t have a lot of friends, but the few ones that I have are friends that I’ll have forever, that much I know. And I am willing to fight for my friends and to save them and to be there with them when they struggle with trials and challenges.
In the age of Facebook when it takes one click to be someone’s “Friend”, it’s important to remember that real friends are those whom we love and love us online and offline.
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Angel Bombarda is a young journalist, environmental advocate and youth leader. She blogs at www.angelbombarda.wordpress.com
