NEWS ARCHIVES
New Year's Message of the President
For the Lord is good; His love endures
forever and his faithfulness through all generations."
Psalms 100:5
My dear Paulinians:
Welcome to 2008! Naragsak, nasalun-at ken natarigagay nga baru a tawen kadakayo amin! Napiya nga ragun ta nikamu ngamin! Manigong bagong taon sa inyong lahat!
As we receive the new year, I wish you and your families Love, Peace, Joy and Prosperity! My fervent hope is for you to be touched by the humility of God the Son who came down to Earth, assumed a mortal identity and was crucified for our redemption. In unison, with zeal, enthusiasm and abiding Faith, let us meet 2008's great promise and potential.
The celebration of One Hundred Years of Life and Mission in the Cagayan Valley has come to a close. With open hearts and an indomitable spirit inspired by Christ, we offered the best of Paulinian Education and shared with one another, family, friends and benefactors all that we have become.
From this distinctive life experience, we realized the gifts of creativity, resilience and cohesiveness. We have learned our lessons and now we face the future with greater optimism. We are humbled and are immensely grateful for the generous and invaluable support we have received from all sectors. Without this, we could not have met the enormous challenge of the centennial celebration with determination and stamina. As we start anew, with unrelenting conviction, greater vigor and fidelity, we move on and say with Job - "YAHWEH GAVE, YAHWEH HAS TAKEN BACK. BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!" (Job 21. the New Jerusalem Bible).
We, Paulinians of the present, are indeed auspiciously chosen for it is in our time that a centennial is concluded and another is ushered in. We who have been set apart to celebrate all that has been for the past 100 years and leave a legacy for coming generations,are doubly blessed for our hands will lay the foundation of the next centennial. Like the Pioneer Sisters who in 1907 came to this verdant valley, we, too, shall grow a seed that in the future will, with proper nurturing, blossom and produce abundant fruit. And like the Pioneer Sisters, our labors will be stirred and sustained by Pauline Spirituality characterized by courage that overcomes all fear and love that conquers all.
What a timely and striking coincidence that 2008 has been declared by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI as the year of St. Paul, our Patron Saint! As we celebrate our Patron's year and open a new centenary, we will listen to Father Ceferino Ledesma who is an expert on Pauline Spirituality on the following dates: January 24 for Support and Maintenance Staff and January 25-26 for Administrators and Faculty. A deeper understanding of Pauline Spirituality will enable us to articulate more actively the teachings of our Patron Saint as individual persons and as members of a Catholic University.
Much remains to be accomplished - the demands of our being an institution of higher education with a Catholic character require urgent and enormous commitments. To once more touch base with the virtues espoused by St. Paul would arm us with the necessary fortitude and perspective to carry on our tasks. CARITAS CHRISTI URGET NOS!