Intellectual Retreats Episodes

April 3, 2025

Making Up What is Lacking: Disability and Suffering in Christ's Body,…

Prof. Paul Gondreau reflects on the profound meaning of suffering, disability, and human frailty in light of Christ’s redemptive suffering, emphasizing shared vulnerability as a source of mercy and unity within the Church.

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April 2, 2025

Ectogenesis: Transhumanism, The Brave New World, and the Attack on Tr…

Prof. Stephen Meredith explores the essence of being human through the lens of Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy, contrasting it with biological and scientific perspectives that often overlook the importance of form and final cause.

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April 1, 2025

Can Machines be People, Too? | Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P.

Fr. Anselm Ramelow critically examines whether artificial intelligence can achieve personhood, arguing that machines lack the essential qualities of being, consciousness, and unity inherent to human nature.

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March 28, 2025

Sharing in Divine Goodness by Grace | Fr. John Mark Solitario, O.P.

Fr. John Mark Solitario explores the transformative power of grace offered by Christ, emphasizing the perfection of charity and voluntary poverty as a means to participate in divine goodness and a sure path to eternal life.

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March 27, 2025

What Exactly Is the Hypostatic Union? | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.

Fr. Dominic Legge explores the intricacies of the hypostatic union, focusing on Aquinas's understanding of how the divine and human natures are united in the person of Christ, while navigating various Christological heresies.

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March 26, 2025

The Life-Giving Appropriation of the Flesh: St. Cyril of Alexandria o…

Professor Paul Gavrilyuk explores Cyril of Alexandria's Christology as a sustained meditation on majesty and lowliness, driven by the desire to probe the mystery of the hypostatic union in light of the Nestorian controversy.

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March 21, 2025

Peripatetic Therapy: Taking Seriously Aristotle's World and the Role …

Sr. Anna Wray explores Aristotle's philosophy of contemplation, emphasizing its therapeutic value in understanding human fulfillment while contrasting it with Christian perspectives on divine contemplation.

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March 20, 2025

Sacred Study: Loving God with Your Mind | Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P.

Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy explores the meaning of loving God with all our minds, drawing from St. Thomas Aquinas's interpretation of the greatest commandment.

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March 19, 2025

Study and the Spiritual Life: Crucifixion of the Desk? | Sr. Anna Wra…

Sr. Anna Wray draws upon Dominican sources, such as St. Thomas Aquinas and A.G. Sertillanges, to explore the activity of studying and its connection to the spiritual life, emphasizing study's intellectual nature and its role in preparing us for contemplation and union with God.

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March 11, 2025

On the Justice of Creation | Prof. John O'Callaghan

Prof. John O'Callaghan discusses Aquinas's perspective on divine justice in the act of creation, emphasizing that it is primarily an act of justice of God towards Himself, reflecting His will, wisdom, and goodness.

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March 4, 2025

Put Away Falsehood | Prof. Adam Eitel

Professor Adam Eitel explores Thomas Aquinas's treatment of truthfulness and falsehood, discussing different types of lies, their motivations, and how they relate to charity and friendship with God, as well as forms of deception beyond speech, like...

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Feb. 27, 2025

The Right Answers of Ethics | Fr. Bonaventure Chapman, O.P.

Fr. Bonaventure Chapman presents a philosophical exploration of ethics, drawing on Anscombe, Aristotle, and Aquinas to argue for moral absolutes grounded in human action itself, rather than solely relying on divine law.

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Feb. 26, 2025

Going for Glory: Seeking Honor Rightly | Fr. Dominic Verner, O.P.

Fr. Dominic Verner explores Aquinas' definition of honor as reverence exhibited in testimony to someone's excellence, explaining its importance for personal virtue, self-knowledge, friendship, and fostering a community that values true goodness.

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Feb. 25, 2025

The Wrong Questions of Modern Action Theory | Fr. Bonaventure Chapman…

Fr. Bonaventure Chapman analyzes the flaws in modern action theory, using Wittgenstein and Anscombe to argue against seeking intention in either physical or psychological states, and advocating instead for examining the description of intentional a...

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Feb. 14, 2025

Lent is for Lovers | Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.

Fr. Andrew Hofer connects the themes of Lent and love, explaining how God's sacrificial love, as revealed in Christ, calls us to a deeper, more authentic love that purifies our affections and strengthens us for sacrifice, particularly within the co...

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