Intellectual Retreats Episodes

Sept. 19, 2025

How Many Friends Should I Have? I Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.

Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau explores the nature, value, and varieties of friendship in Christian and philosophical tradition, highlighting the importance of cultivating friendships of pleasure, utility, and virtue for a fulfilling h...

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Sept. 17, 2025

What is Wisdom and Why Do We Need It? I Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P.

In this lecture, Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy explains how wisdom—philosophical, theological, and mystical—transcends mere technical knowledge and, therefore, is able to orient man's action toward divine truth and human flourishing. ...

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Sept. 16, 2025

The Happiness of Human Limitations I Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.

In this lecture, Fr. Gregory Pine explores how true happiness is discovered by accepting and embracing the limits and commitments inherent to human life, rather than escaping them. This lecture was given on February 15th, 202...

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Aug. 11, 2025

Happiness Understood Psychologically and Theologically I Prof. Christ…

Prof. Christopher Kaczor explores the relationship between positive psychology and Catholic theology, uncovering how empirical psychological findings on happiness align with and deepen spiritual practices like gratitude, service, and forgiveness.

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July 18, 2025

Woman as Companion and as Mother | Sr. Elinor Gardner, O.P.

Sr. Elinor Gardner explores the vocation of women as companion and mother, drawing on Edith Stein’s philosophy to highlight the natural ethos of femininity as a gift received from God, characterized by a unique capacity for nurturing and companionship that shapes both family and professional life.

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July 17, 2025

True Fatherhood as Archetype of Masculine Virtue | Prof. John Cuddeba…

Prof. John Cuddeback explores true fatherhood as the archetype of masculine virtue, examining its modes, challenges, and unique virtues through the lenses of Aristotelian philosophy, domestic prudence, and scriptural figures like Joseph.

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July 16, 2025

Household as Natural Revelation of Masculinity and Femininity | Prof.…

Prof. John Cuddeback explores how the household serves as a natural revelation of masculinity and femininity, emphasizing the complementarity of men and women, the significance of virtue, and the essential roles of fatherhood and motherhood.

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July 15, 2025

The Importance of Friendship in Marriage | Dr. Nathaniel Peters and P…

Dr. Nathaniel Peters and Prof. Jane Peters explore the vocation of marriage as a transformative friendship, highlighting how the goods of marriage—offspring, fidelity, and sacrament—are elevated by grace to foster virtue, mutual delight, and a living witness to Christ’s love.

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July 7, 2025

Recovering the Image of God in Man (and Woman) | Sr. Elinor Gardner, …

Sr. Elinor Gardner explores the Christian understanding of virtue, emphasizing the theological and cardinal virtues as foundational to human excellence and the restoration of the image of God in man and woman.

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June 30, 2025

Free Will and the Brain | Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P.

Fr. Anselm Ramelow explores the philosophical and scientific debates surrounding free will, examining cultural attitudes, neuroscience experiments like Benjamin Libet's, and the necessity of free will for rational thought and...

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June 27, 2025

Could God Weep or Feel Pain? Christ's Assumption of Human Suffering f…

Prof. Paul Gondreau explores whether God could truly experience human emotions and suffering by examining Christ’s full humanity, the Church’s response to heresies like docetism and monophysitism, and the Aristotelian-Thomist...

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June 25, 2025

Is Anything More Tortuous than the Human Heart? I Prof. Steven Jensen

Prof. Steven Jensen analyzes the complexity of the human heart by distinguishing the interplay between emotions and will, drawing on Aquinas and Aristotle to explain how passions like love, desire, sorrow, anxiety, guilt, vai...

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June 24, 2025

Pope John Paul II's Salvifici Doloris I Prof. Gina Noia

Prof. Gina Noia explores Catholic teaching on medical treatment decision-making, focusing on how suffering, prudence, and the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary means inform ethical choices in end-of-life care, eu...

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June 23, 2025

Suffering and End-of-Life Care I Prof. Gina Noia

Prof. Gina Noia explores Catholic teaching on end-of-life care, suffering, and medical treatment decision-making, highlighting the nuanced distinction between morally obligatory and optional treatments within the Catholic eth...

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June 19, 2025

Corpus Christi and the Mystery of the Eucharist I Fr. Innocent Smith,…

Fr. Innocent Smith explores the origins and theological significance of the Feast of Corpus Christi, emphasizing how liturgical tradition, scriptural foundations, and figures like Saint Juliana of Liège shape the Church’s und...

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June 17, 2025

Is the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in "Accordance with the Scr…

Prof. Gary Anderson examines how the Christian practice of adoring the Blessed Sacrament is deeply rooted in the scriptural tradition, particularly through the Old Testament themes of God's indwelling presence in the tabernac...

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June 13, 2025

The Convertibility of Being and Goodness | Prof. Thomas Ward

Prof. Thomas Ward explores the Thomistic concept of the convertibility of being and goodness, examining how the privation theory of evil and the essential natures of things underpin the intrinsic goodness of all that exists, ...

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June 12, 2025

The Emergence of Evil as a Theological Problem | Fr. Timothy Bellamah…

Fr. Timothy Bellamah explores how the problem of evil emerged as a distinct theological issue within the Judeo-Christian tradition, contrasting it with ancient mythologies and examining historical responses from Gnosticism to...

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June 9, 2025

Evil as Privation | Prof. Thomas Ward

Prof. Thomas Ward explains the classical Christian theory that evil is not a real entity but a privation of goodness, drawing from thinkers like Augustine, Aquinas, and Boethius to address philosophical and theological challe...

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June 6, 2025

Thomas Aquinas on the Nicene Creed | Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.

Fr. Andrew Hofer explores Thomas Aquinas’s interpretation of the Nicene Creed, highlighting its foundational role in Catholic theology, the Trinity, and the integration of scripture, liturgy, and tradition. This lecture was g...

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June 5, 2025

Wonderment, Contemplation, and Friendship with God | Fr. Cassian Derb…

Fr. Cassian Derbes explores how wonderment, contemplation, and friendship with God are essential to the Christian life, drawing on insights from Aristotle, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and literary works such as A River Runs Through...

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June 4, 2025

The Vocation of Parenthood | Dr. Nathaniel Peters and Prof. Jane Sloa…

Dr. Nathaniel Peters and Prof. Jane Sloan Peters explore the vocation of parenthood, highlighting the distinct yet complementary roles of fatherhood and motherhood as a participation in God’s creative and priestly work, groun...

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June 3, 2025

Psalms and the Grace of Conversion | Fr. Stephen Ryan, O.P.

Fr. Stephen Ryan explains how the Psalms uniquely serve as both a mirror and remedy for the soul, fostering self-knowledge, compunction, and conversion by guiding believers into deeper prayer and recognition of God’s grace in...

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June 2, 2025

Key Principles for a Happy Life | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.

Fr. Gregory Pine explores the principles for a happy life by drawing on Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy, focusing on the concept of beatitude as the fullness of flourishing rooted in the nature of God and human beings. ...

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