In 1950, barely two years after the launching of the novena, the first broadcast of the novena on radio was conducted. The Baclaran chronicles narrates this event,

Early in January a Chinese manufacturer arranged for a weekly Broadcast of the 7.00 p.m. Novena over Station DZPI for the benefit of the sick and those who cannot come to the Church. Far from lessening the crowds, the broadcast has served to increase their numbers. Letters coming in from all over the Philippines show that the Novena broadcast is being followed throughout the Islands.

Redemptorist also utilized media not just in the shrine but also in the missions. In the 1950s, the missionaries were going around the barrios with their “sound car”, slides and other visual aids.  In those times, when the radio was the most advanced technology in the provinces, these media technologies were already groundbreaking tools in spreading the Gospel. The missionaries, however, eventually faced a stiff competition from the media in getting the attention of the people in the mission. John Maguire ascertains this, “By 1968 it was becoming clear that Missions in the City were losing their attractive appeal and people, now used to watching television, were not so keen to get up and go to church each evening. Missioners were also changing, and transistors were the in thing.”

In 2003, for the first time video monitors were installed in the shrine. The aim of the monitors was to aid the active participation of the assembly especially in the songs and responses during the masses and novenas.   The monitors were also used for evangelization and catechesis especially on the liturgy and sacraments in between masses and novenas.  Furthermore, the monitors were utilized for disseminating and drumming up support for the many programs and services of the Shrine and the Philippine Church.  It was also envisioned that the monitors would be useful in seminars and talks in the Shrine, for example, Bible, Social Teachings of the Church, etc.

Initial reactions of the people to the monitors were varied from a bit of cynicism to enthusiastic approval. In general, however, most of the reactions were positive as many affirmed the effectiveness of the monitors in their participation and growing appreciation of the liturgy and teachings of the church.

In 2005, the shrine made its first foray into the digital world by launching its website.  The shrine’s first online presence was warmly received by netizens. In 2012, I made a total redesign of the website placing interactivity into the site like the ability to post comments on webpages, submitting letters of petition and thanksgiving and yes, making a donation.  The new design also incorporated social media like facebook and youtube into the site.

The website became particularly popular among the overseas Filipino workers (OFW). It became a popular source of information and communication for the devotees who are OFW’s A comment posted by Zenaida Obciana in September 24, 2014 on the website, expresses this sentiment: “Thank you very much for having this site, even I’m far away in a country with no [C]atholic church, thru your site I feel that I am home. Many thanks and more power to you all.” Cora Brown, 4/27/2014 “Every time I turn on to this website, I feel I am home in the Philippines. I can feel the warmth of your LOVE.” Carlos C. Bondoc writing in 12/27/16 “I want to express my deepest gratitude and thanksgiving for the priests and laity who maintain this website. This really helps me and my family re-connect with our Filipino heritage and our Catholic faith.”

The live-streaming of the novena and masses in the site instantly became a popular hit among the OFW’s. This is expressed in a comment posted by Nila Doroteo Simpson on March 5, 2014: “I am so thankful that even [I] am away from the Philippines I [am] still able to say Novena every Wednesday thru livestreaming. Wayback 2003 to 2004 [I] am always in Baclaran church every Wednesday ... Thank you MAMA MARY for always [being] there for us.”

In 2016, the website—http://www.baclaranchurch.org—won the Best Parish Website in the whole country during the 2016 Catholic Social Media Awards.  The Catholic Social Media Awards recognized the shrine’s website for creatively utilizing cyberspace and new media as a tool for online evangelization.

As the visual culture has penetrated the devotees, the shrine increasingly utilized video for evangelization. the video gospel reflection posted on YouTube every Wednesday.  LED Electronic video board replaced traditional bulletin board in the Shrine, compound and Convent Lobby. Video in between masses.

The most recent foray of the shrine into the new media is the Social Media.  The shrine started a Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram account. Through the website and the social media platforms, the devotees were able to inquire, get information about the newest activities of the shrine, pray online, post comment, write letters of thanksgiving and petition, make suggestions, donate to the shrine and interact with shrine team and fellow devotees. These new media platforms allowed for creative interactivity and greater participation of the devotees in the shrine. As of April 21, 2017, the shrine’s facebook page—https://www.facebook.com/omphbaclaran—has garnered 20,940 fans and counting.

On April 02, 2017, the page garnered 106,676 total reach. Total reach refers to the number of people who were served any activity from shrine’s Facebook page including shrine’s posts, posts to shrine’s page by other people, page like ads, mentions and check-ins. In short, total reach refers to the number of fb accounts where the shrine’s page landed on their timeline. Indeed, these numbers reflects the vast potential of social media for evangelization and information dissemination.

On the other hand, there were downsides to these new technologies. Over social media, for example, we have been attacked for hypocrisy and called all sorts of names—bastard priests, demons from hell, members of the yellow cult, rapists and pedophiles, coddlers of drug lords, thieving hypocrites playing the games of politicians, etc. The vitriolic comments comes whenever we make prophetic stand for justice and peace and in defense of the poor, as in the case of the rampant extra-judicial killings because of the anti-drug campaign of the government. This shows that the new media technologies can be utilized in both constructive and destructive ways.

There are also positive comments, however, defending the stance of the shrine, for example, on the issue of extra-judicial killings. Cedrick C. Sagun, for example, expressed his support to the prophetic stance made by the Redemptorist community:

Stay faithful to the Gospel and to the teachings of the Church. Kings and rulers come and go, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Let no one distract you or prevent you from proclaiming the Truth, even if it leads to persecution and martyrdom. People will say a lot of things, but the only voice you need to hear is the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Mother of Perpetual Help will always be there for you. MAY GOD BLESS THE REDEMPTORISTS!