The front design of the formal invitation sent to family and friends for the May 2016 celebrations in Washington, D.C. and Utica, New York.
Click the image or here to view the full printed invitation, designed by Perisphere Media. The image of the papal Mass at The Catholic University of America is copyright and is used with permission.
Doctoral Degree Celebration & Consulting Services Launch (2016)
I am grateful to our God who sustains us all and who has brought us together over the years. It was such a great joy to be with family and so many friends and colleagues over the ‘octave’ of Pentecost to Trinity Sunday in May 2016 to celebrate the special achievement of my doctorate in theology and the formal launch of my consulting services. While this achievement was indeed a product of my own hard work and dedication over many years, I know that I reached this milestone also due to the support of each and everyone one of you in large and small ways over many years. Whether you joined me in person or in spirit, I want you to know of my deep and profound gratitude for your presence in my life.
I am also grateful to colleagues at Perisphere Media for their work in the completion of this new website to coincide with these celebrations. It will serve as a hub for news and communication about my work and ministry and other consulting services.
To include as many as possible, I chose to have two separate celebrations – a larger one in the Washington, D.C.-area built around the commencement ceremony at Catholic University, and a more personal but inspiring event in my hometown of Utica, New York.
Degree Celebrations & Consulting Services Launch: Washington, D.C.
The dreary weather of spring 2016 in the Washington, D.C. area, which saw a record 16 straight overcast and rainy days, lifted, as if on cue, for commencement weekend at The Catholic University of America, beginning a celebration for thousands of newly minted graduates, including me, celebrating the conferral of my doctoral degree in Historic & Systematic Theology.
Photos: Alanna Dushok
Degree Celebration & Consulting Services Launch: Utica, NY
The weekend after a full and festive celebration in Washington, D.C., family and friends from the Central New York area gathered to continue the celebration and expand it. A celebration of the Eucharist on Trinity Sunday, followed by a concert celebrating the Presence of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to all and an evening sit-down dinner made for a joyful and memorable day.
Photos: Tom Loughlin
Commencement Prayer Card
This image is a specially designed prayer card which was shared with all of my commencement invitees. The front presents an image of the cross with the flame of the Holy Spirit before it – symbols of the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit. These images coordinate especially well with the liturgical celebrations of Pentecost and Trinity Sunday which were the two solemnities celebrated in the church year on the weekends of my celebration.
The front of the card includes an adapted translation of Philippians 2:5 based on the original Greek and which I presented in my reflection on Philippians 2 prepared for these celebrations.
The back of the card features the logo for my website, formally launched to coincide with these celebrations as the inaugural event of my consulting services in ministry, digital communications and theology. It also includes the dates of the celebrations and an ancient story about one of the earliest desert prophets of the church.
Reflection on the Commemoration of the Conferral of my Doctoral Degree
Trinity Sunday, May 22, 2016
Ventura’s Restaurant | Utica, NY
I recently read a quote online about teaching and learning that seems thoroughly appropriate for this gathering today and which I think is also a very compact summary of what Paul was trying to convey to the Philippians in his letter to them, and especially in the passage we have just heard proclaimed. It is also appropriate on this date in the church when we celebrate Pentecost – the gift of the Holy Spirit, whom John’s Gospel reminds us is the perfect Teacher.
Special Thanks
I extend my special thanks to Perisphere Media. My colleagues there worked closely with me to build and launch this new website. They also designed my logo and brand look, as well as related general collateral. Finally, I thank them for producing the following print collateral for these special commencement celebrations:
[Archive] DelMonico Receives Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America
WASHINGTON – Marc J. DelMonico, 40, recently received his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. His doctoral dissertation examines the understandings of the church in the writings of two contemporary North American Roman Catholic theologians, Gregory Baum (b. 1923) and Fr. Patrick Granfield, OSB (1930-2014). The work analyzes how both men draw upon the primary understanding of the church expressed in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, namely, that the church is, first and foremost, a spiritual community of believers united and empowered by the grace of God.