The Sofía Center shares its message for the start of the first semester 2020-2021.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? You are the light of the world.” Mt 5: 13a-14a.
During this year 2020, we may have a feeling that our lives are like a video game in which, month after month, the level of difficulty increases: earthquakes, a pandemic, quarantine, Saharan dust, isolation, contagion, storms, and corruption. We started the semester remotely, a very different August, in which few things are as we had planned. In the midst of this uncertainty, we try to resume our lives, meet others, and become passionate about our projects again. How to recover or preserve our goals and dreams in such troubled times?
First of all, let’s honor the past. We all experienced the way in which the health crisis disrupted what we liked to do, the encounters that gave us joy, the projects we were working on. There is a need to accompany each other so that no one is alone, anchored in the things that cannot be as they were before. However, those experiences from the past can give us hope, a deep desire to fight for new and better experiences. Together, we can live and be grateful for what we had before, and give ourselves permission to be reborn in this context, discovering new meanings to the days.
Let us inspire the present. Today, we have to spend hours glued to a screen learning to learn virtually. We can all make online education meaningful, engaging, and enjoyable experiences. Let’s not forget those who will have many difficulties along the way. Let’s live digital solidarity this semester! Whoever has a little more, share it with whoever has less. Let’s be understanding and compassionate in the face of everyone’s problems, feelings, and emotions. Let’s be attentive to physical and mental health. Let us stimulate our creativity and undertake new forms of friendship and collaboration. It will not be easy, but let’s take time to pamper, listen, and comfort ourselves. All this will be the inspiration to live today!
Finally, let’s build the future. The Sagrado community is distributed into thousands of homes throughout the Puerto Rican archipelago and different countries around the world. From our spaces, let us be co-creators of a new reality that guarantees a dignified life for everyone. To achieve this, it is urgent to acquire the essential tools, build the relevant knowledge, and generate the solidarity necessary to restore flavor and shine to life. Let’s not get distracted, let’s keep our eyes fixed on a new horizon, a horizon that is in our hands to build.
How will we live our university mission in these new circumstances? Jesus himself, in his Gospel, reminds us of our mission… Dear Sagrado community, be salt and light to the world! We are a living community that breathes, develops, and evolves in the face of adversity. Let us shine a new light that can warm the hearts that turn cold and sad due to the difficulties of this year. Let us be salt to give hope to those who lose their motivation to continue. The Sacred Heart of Jesus continues with open arms, trusting in our willpower to write a new story. Let us prevent the spread of the virus, let us spread love and brotherhood to all who come across our screen: only this way will we develop antibodies of solidarity1, justice and peace.
1 See Pope Francis. (2020). A Plan to Resurrect.