EDITIORIAL INTRODUCTION
HOPE FROM BELOW: LIVED THEOLOGIES OF HOPE IN THE FACE OF CRISES AND SOCIAL EVILS
In our time, both in the Philippines and across the globe, the human family stands at a crossroads marked by uncertainty, suffering, and deep longing. Ongoing wars – such as the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Israel-Hamas War, and the recent war in Iran – continue to devastate lives, displace communities, and fracture already fragile hopes for peace. Closer to home, our people endure recurring climate-related disasters, widening economic inequalities, and the persistent wounds of corruption and injustice. The cries of the poor grow louder, even as their voices are often drowned out by misinformation and disinformation that distort the truth and erode trust. Meanwhile, our common home groans under the weight of ecological destruction, underscoring the urgency of care for creation as powerfully articulated in Laudato Si.’
Amid this complex and often painful landscape, we are compelled to ask: Is there still hope? Where do we anchor our hope? These are not merely abstract or speculative questions. They arise from the depths of lived experience: from communities struggling to rebuild after typhoons, from families fractured by migration or poverty, and from young people searching for meaning in a world often feels unstable and uncertain.
This ninth volume of SATMI Budyong (2025-2026), with its theme “Hope From Below: Lived Theologies of Hope in the Face of Crises and Social Evils,” enters precisely into this existential and theological terrain. Rather than offering facile answers or detached reflections, the contributions gathered in this volume seek to uncover and articulate forms of hope that emerge “from below” – from the lived realities of suffering, resistance, and resilience among God’s people. In doing so, they invite us to rediscover hope not as a distant ideal, but as a dynamic and transformative force rooted in history, community, and faith.
Fr. Edilberto B. Cepe, CSsR, SSL (Editor -in-Chief)
Articles:
- Marian Hope and the Filipino Soul: Theological Reflection on Marian Spirituality in the Jubilee of Hope – Mr. Danilo S. Agustin Jr., STL
- Beyond Passivism and Sheer Optimism: Apocalyptic Hope in Daniel 12:1-13 – Fr. Elton L. Viagedor, OFM, SSL
- A Song of Creation, A Song of Hope: St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures, 800 Years On – Fr. Neil J. Badillo, OFM, S.Th.D
- Embodied Presence as a Pastoral-Missiological Paradigm for Ecclesial Leadership among the Priestly Hierarchy and the Laity: Reframing Hope in the Philippine Context – Br. Jayfe C. Fraga, OFM
- In Spite of Pain, We Remain Rational: Seeking Understanding in Faith – Mr. Mc Kyle Vilaz
- The Filipino Cultural Value of Utang Kabubut-on (Debt of Gratitude) and Indigenous Spirituality Informing Christian Ecological Ethics in the Philippine Context – Fr. Gleen Tito Pascual, CSsR
- The Enigma of Paul – Mr. Melanio LaGuardia Aoanan, Ph.D.