500 youth to gather at Sacred Heart Parish for Eucharist talks 

Tourism students from the University of Cebu are being briefed by Alvin Pahati, lead organizr and treasurer of Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network-Apostleship Prayer (PWPN-AP) of Sacred Heart Parish. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | Edilyn Lopez

CEBU CITY, Philippines—How are you spending your Friday night? 

For nearly 500 youth from all over Cebu, the destination for their Friday night-out on October 25, 2019 is the Sacred Heart Parish located along D. Jakosalem Street in Cebu City.

They will be attending “Eukaristiya: The Greatest Love of All, Living and Loving the Eucharist,” a five-hour spiritual gathering that consists of a Holy Mass and a series of talks. 

It is organized by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network-Apostleship Prayer (PWPN-AP) of Sacred Heart Parish in partnership with the University of Cebu Banilad Tourism MICE (Meeting, Incentives Conferences, and Exhibitions) class. 

Alvin Pahati, lead organizer and treasurer of PWPN-AP of Sacred Heart Parish, said the event was organized to gather the youth and encourage them to love and serve the Lord through the Eucharist. 

Pahati said it is important for the youth to be involved in reflective sessions, especially in a world where it is so easy to lose track of your spirituality because of societal pressures heightened by too much social media presence. 

“It’s really time for the youth to step up. We’ve allowed ourselves to be too distracted by temporary things that we lose track of what’s truly important,” he said. 

UC college instructor Edilyn Lopez said the students volunteered to be part of the event after she asked them if they are interested to help manage the gathering that will have about 500 participants. 

“They are tourism students. I see the need for them to be exposed in real-life events, not just those that we organized. This is a good training ground for them,” she said. 

Instead of spending their Friday bar hopping, these Tourism students from the University of Cebu will be volunteering on October 25, 2019 in a spiritual gathering of 500 youth at the Sacred Heart Parish. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | Edilyn Lopez

Lopez said they have been blessed by several sponsors who provided their resources to support the event. Among them is the homegrown delicacy brand from Liloan, Titay’s. 

Pahati and Lopez are connected because they are batchmates in the search for the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines in Central Visayas back in 2011. 

Eukaristiya will start with a Holy Mass at 6 p.m. to be concelebrated by Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma. 

At 8 p.m., there will be a series of talks focusing on the Eucharist by two renowned Jesuit priests: Father Arnel Aquino, SJ and Father Jboy Gonzales, SJ. 

The Jesuit priests will also include their musical compositions in the talks. 

The talks are free and open to the public.