The Wonder of a Child
Michael C. McFarland, SJ
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 Though Christmas is one of the most solemn religious feasts of the year, celebrating an event that is pivotal to our faith, in practice our observance of it tends to focus on children. Families concentrate on gifts and activities for their children. Many of the iconic TV shows and movies, such as “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and “A Christmas Story,” are for and about children, as are many of the pop songs, although these always draw great interest from adults as well. Many parishes and Catholic schools put on pageants and concerts in which their children perform. In general the season is filled with stories, rituals and legends directed at children.
There is good reason for this emphasis on children and their experience of the feast. After all, Christmas is about the birth of a child. But what draws us in even more, I would suggest, is the sense of wonder with which children experience the celebration. For them it is something beautiful, dazzling and mysterious. The lights, the music, the elaborate displays and decorations, the manger scenes, the cookies and other treats specially made for the occasion, going together to church and to visit families and friends, the caroling, all speak to a unique special occasion filled with joy, beauty and love beyond what they experience in their daily lives.
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Canti di Natale 2022
Students at the Greg performing Christmas Carols
Make sure you go to the 6:12 minute marker for a great Feliz Navidad!
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GUF Reception at the USCCB Meeting
November 15 - Baltimore, MD
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The GUF hosted a reception at the annual US Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting. The bishops appreciated this opportunity for updates as well as the chance to ask questions about new and ongoing programs at our institutions in Rome. Alumni bishops also shared some stories from their time as students. GUF staff especially enjoyed hearing about their favorite professors.
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Bishop Peter Smith, Fr Brian Paulson SJ, Bishop Oscar Cantú
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Alumnus Bishop Richard Pates & Fr McFarland
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GUF reception attendees
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Bishop James Checchio, alumnus Cardinal Daniel DiNardo & Fr Bill George
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Cocktails & Conversation in Washington, DC
December 5
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GUF Trustee Chorbishop John Faris (Greg STB '75, PIO JCOD '80), gave a talk on "Forming Church Leaders for Ukraine" at the home of GUF Trustee Patricia Lotuff in Georgetown. Having just returned from teaching a special class for Ukrainian students at the PIO, Fr Faris shared some key insights with our benefactors. The Georgetown Chimes helped get the crowd in the Christmas spirit with a few carols.
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Patricia Lotuff, Michael Steele, Ellen Shafer & David Ralston
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Chorbishop John Faris, Howard Bell and Fr Bill George SJ
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Barbara Jones, Ellen Shafer & Chorbishop John Faris
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Trustee Michael Steele & GU student Max McCormick
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The Georgetown Chimes performed for the group!
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GUF Annual Dinner
December 6 in New York City
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Trustees and Benefactors gathered for the GUF Annual Dinner at the New York Athletic Club. This year the William R. Grant Award for exceptionally generous leadership was presented to Bill Frank, an alumnus of Fordham Prep, Georgetown University and Fordham Law, who has been a man for others throughout his life. Elected to the GUF Board in 1994, he has helped in numerous ways over the past 28 years including hosting 4 meetings every year at Skadden Arps, guiding four GUF presidents with legal expertise, and financially supporting many programs to benefit our students, faculty and programs in Rome. We now welcome him as a Trustee Emeritus.
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David Ralston, Fr Ryan Muldoon STB '18, Dave & Caroline Marren, Tim & Laura Grozier
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Fr Sam Sawyer, SJ, Paul & Irene Soden
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Lisa Bell, Colleen Mudlaff, Jim & Brenda Howard, Howard Bell
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Fr Ryan Muldoon, John Merola, John Corcoran
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Fr. John Paul Kimes was recently interviewed by Vatican Insider host Joan Lewis.
Fr. Kimes is an Associate Professor of the Practice at Notre Dame Law School and the Raymond of Peñafort Fellow in Canon Law at the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture.
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Prior to joining the Notre Dame Law School faculty, he served for 11 years as a canon lawyer at the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He was ordained in 2000 as a priest of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles after having completed his first course of studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He is a native of Birmingham, Alabama.
Listen to the two-part interview HERE.
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The new issue of the information periodical La Gregoriana, in Italian and English, is now also available in the new entirely digital edition, complete with the archive of previous issues of the magazine.
Read the issue HERE.
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Dear Friend,
Our recent trip to Rome for our annual Colloquium reminded us in vivid and compelling ways of the importance of the institutions we support, the Gregorian University, the Biblical Institute and the Oriental Institute, and how crucial our funding is. The students especially left a deep impression. Seeing students from all over the world, who bring such a wealth of experience and insight from every race, nation and culture, all working, learning and praying together, united in their dedication to serving Christ in the Church, moved us deeply. We met students from India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Viet Nam, China, Korean, the Philippines, Indonesia, Poland, Slovakia, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Cameroon, Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, and Columbia, as well as the United States and Western Europe. Their talent, personal warmth and commitment to bringing the power of the faith and the healing mercy of Christ to their communities gives us hope in the future of the Church and the world.
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HE Archbishop José Carlos Souza Campos,
currently Bishop of the Diocese of Divinópolis (Brazil),
to
Metropolitan Archbishop of Montes Claros (Brazil)
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Archbishop António Manuel Bogaio Constantino,
currently Provincial Superior of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus and President of the Conference of Religious in Mozambique,
to
Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Beira (Mozambique)
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HE Bishop Simon Ok hyun-jin,
currently Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Gwangju (Korea),
to
Archbishop of the same archdiocese (Korea)
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Rev. Emilio Nappa,
currently Official of the Secretariat for the Economy,
to
Adjunct Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization with the role of President of the Pontifical Mission Societies, assigning him the title of Archbishop
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HE Monsignor Alejandro Arellano Cedillo,
the Rev. Don Dario Vitali,
Prof. Rosalba Erminia Paola Manes,
the Rev. Riccardo Battocchio,
the Rev. Anthony R. Brausch,
the Rev. Raffaele Ponticelli,
the Rev. Sister Lidia Ramona González Rodríguez, FMH,
to
Consultors of the Dicastery for the Clergy
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Mass Cards
available online
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The Gregorian University Foundation is pleased to offer Mass cards for the living and for the deceased.
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Please click HERE to select the Gregorian University Foundation as your charity of choice.
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Praying with the Pope in December
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Pope Francis' Universal prayer intention for December is:
Volunteer Not-for-Profit Organizations
We pray that volunteer non-profit organizations committed to human development find people dedicated to the common good and ceaselessly seek out new paths to international cooperation.
Reflect further on the Prayer Intention for December and unite yourself with the Pope's Prayer Network Watch the Pope's Video >>
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