By: Fr. Neil Badillo, OFM, S.Th.D | SATMI Director
Welcome everyone to our acquaintance day, which provides opportunities for mutual understanding and interpersonal connections among the members of our academic community, including the administration, professors, formators, staff, and students. I wish that this will also be a day of forgiveness, healing, reconciliation, and celebration of friendship.
Nevertheless, the selected theme, “Resilient Together Amidst Challenges,” is of a more serious nature, reportedly originating from Br. Dario Tupas, the incoming chair of the student council. The theme serves as a reminder of the resoluteness with which we approach all matters within the context of SATMI. Our dean, Sr. Miriam, our highly qualified professors, our staff, and our students possessed exceptional qualities we need to promote the integrity of our vision and mission at SATMI.
In the context of a post-COVID-19 pandemic year, when a combination of in-person and online classes are being conducted, we continue to encounter many challenges both within and outside the physical confines of SATMI. Undoubtedly, the quality of resilience, which might be interpreted theologically as “faithful perseverance,” is the requisite that our endeavors have imposed upon us.
Furthermore, our collective efforts must always be aligned with the current global trajectory of our church as we engage in theological discourse guided by the principles of synodality – walking together, side by side akin to the color stripe.
Finally, let me reiterate once again my cordial greeting to all those in attendance. We should start this year with a positive mindset and cultivate a resilient scholarly community at SATMI.