The Thomistic Institute

Latest Episodes:

The Good Citizen: Lessons from Tocqueville on Democratic Citizenship in the 21st Century – Prof. Raymond Hain Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

Prof. Raymond Hain argues that Tocqueville’s insights show democratic citizenship depends on stable attachments, shared social life across class lines, and a willingness to let citizens practice freedom through responsibility.

This lecture was given on December 4th, 2025, at University of Tulsa.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speakers:

Raymond Hain is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Associate Director of the Humanities Program at Providence College in Providence, RI. Educated at Christendom College, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Oxford, he is the founder of the PC Humanities Forum and Humanities Reading Seminars and is responsible for the strategic development of the Humanities Program into a vibrant, world class center of teaching, research, and cultural life dedicated to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. His scholarly interests include the history of ethics (especially St. Thomas Aquinas), applied ethics (especially medical ethics and the ethics of architecture), Alexis de Tocqueville, and philosophy and literature (especially Catholic aesthetics). His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Templeton Foundation, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Charles Koch Foundation. His essays have appeared in various journals and collections including The Thomist, International Journal of Applied Philosophy, and The Anthem Companion to Tocqueville. He is the editor of Beyond the Self: Virtue Ethics and the Problem of Culture and is currently working on a monograph titled The Lover and the Prophet: An Essay in Catholic Aesthetics. He joined Providence College in 2011 and lives just across the street with his wife Dominique and their five children.

Keywords: Citizenship, Democracy in America, Democratic Citizenship, Family Formation, Religion, Robert Putnam, Tocqueville, Subsidiarity, Stability, Strong Gods

How John Paul II Used the Saints Against the Communists in Poland – Prof. James Felak Jun 05, 2026

Show notes

Prof. James Felak shows how John Paul II used the saints in his pilgrimages to communist Poland to challenge atheistic rule, strengthen Catholic identity, and encourage resistance and hope.

This lecture was given on October 31st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speakers:

James Felak is a Professor of History and current holder of the Newman Center Term Professorship in Catholic Christianity at the University of Washington. He specializes in Catholicism in East Central Europe and has authored two books on Catholic politics in Slovakia, and a book on Pope John Paul II and his visits to his native Poland during and after Communist rule there. This latter work is based on hundreds of pages of papal speeches and sermons, and the records of the Communist government and secret police as they monitored the Pope during his visits. Besides courses on modern Europe, Felak teaches “The History of Christianity” and “Catholic Classics in Historical Context.” The latter course covers the major Catholic writers and thinkers from St. Augustine and St. Benedict through G. K. Chesterton and Flannery O’Connor. Felak is from southwestern Pennsylvania, received his doctorate from Indiana University, and has resided in Seattle since 1989.

Keywords: Catholic Identity, Communion Of Saints, Communist Poland, John Paul II, Maximilian Kolbe, Polish History, Saint Stanislaus, Saint Wojciech, Sacred Space, Solidarity Movement

Musical Dependence: What's Behind It and How We Can Move Beyond It – Sr. Anna Wray, O.P. Jun 04, 2026

Show notes

Sr. Anna Wray argues that many people are caught in a “musical dependence” that uses music to make ordinary life merely tolerable, a mere toleration which can transformed into true enjoyment by means of asceticism and an education in genuine enjoyment.

This lecture was given on November 12th, 2025, at Catholic University of America.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speaker:

Sister Anna Wray is a native of Connecticut and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia of Nashville, TN. Sister received her PhD in philosophy from The Catholic University of America, having written her dissertation on Aristotle’s account of the activity of contemplation. Sister is an assistant professor on the faculty of CUA's School of Philosophy in Washington, DC, where she regularly teaches courses in rhetoric, philosophy of religion, and philosophical psychology. She is also an adjunct professor for Aquinas College, where she teaches metaphysics and epistemology to her sisters in formation. Her research and conversational interests include imagination and attention in human agency and speech, the effects of technology on human agency, and form as function and unifying activity.

Keywords: Asceticism, Aristotle, Delight, Entelechaic Activity, Liturgy, Music, Musical Dependence, Silence, Thomistic Anthropology, Worship

Silence, Contemplation, and Non-Being – Fr. Ephrem Reese O.P. Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

Fr. Ephrem Reese argues that silence is not mere absence but a fertile, hidden potency through which contemplation, devotion, and the word of God can come to life.

This lecture was given on November 8th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speakers:

Fr. Ephrem Reese was born in Harrisburg, PA, and has family in Philadelphia, New Jersey and California. He received a BA from St John’s College in Annapolis, MD in 2010, and was confirmed in the Catholic Church at that year’s Easter Vigil. He lived for a year in DC, a few blocks from the Dominican House of Studies, and attended the nearby parish, St Anthony of Padua. While in DC, he was an intern for Pax Christi USA, promoting Just War teaching. “Dominican life has finally given me a picture of what it means for my own soul to be saved. This is a joy worth preaching: loving Jesus Christ, united with the Brethren in one heart and mind.”

Keywords: Contemplation, Devotion, Grace, Hiddenness, Non-Being, Prayer, Silence, Thomism, Womb, Word Of God

Boredom: The Threshold of Great Deeds – Fr. Ephrem Reese O.P. Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

Fr. Ephrem Reese argues that boredom can be read both as a modern opening onto time and wonder and, more importantly, as a spiritual problem that must be disciplined by the virtues.

This lecture was given on November 7th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speaker:

Keywords: Acedia, Boredom, Charity, Curiosity, Heidegger, Hope, Magnanimity, Prudence, Romans 12, Walter Benjamin

Why We Need or Don't Need Utopias – Dr. Jan Bentz Jun 01, 2026

Show notes

Dr. Jan Bentz argues that utopias are dangerous because they promise a perfected society by denying human fallenness, replacing Christian hope and grace with man-made salvation, and turning politics into a counterfeit religion.

This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at Thomistic Institute in Limerick.

To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.

About the Speakers:

Dr. Jan C. Bentz was born and raised in Germany and graduated high school in St Louis, Missouri, where he attended as a foreign exchange student. Dr Bentz holds a doctorate in Philosophy from the Roman Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum, a Masters in Sacred Art, Architecture, and Liturgy and a Masters in Church, Ecumenism, and Religious Studies. His dissertation was published in German on Gustav Siewerth (1903-1963) and his work on Thomas Aquinas and G.W.F. Hegel. His fields of expertise include Metaphysics, History of Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Thomism, and Philosophy of Art. Dr Bentz lectures at Blackfriars’ Studium on History of Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Philosophy of History. He taught Philosophy of Art (Aesthetics) for The Catholic University of America, Rome Campus, History of Medieval Philosophy at Christendom College, Rome Campus, and Apologetics for IES Study Abroad also in Rome. His journalistic career included the production of weekly TV coverage in German and English for EWTN Global; interviews and commentary for Catholic News Agency, Inside the Vatican; and for The Catholic Herald in English and Jüdische Rundschau in German. His current format is called Reality Check, a series of video interviews also published on YouTube with the European Conservative.

Keywords: Equality, Eschatology, Grace, Human nature, Joachim of Fiore, Marx, Politics, Religion, Technology, Utopia

Catholic Social Teaching – Prof. James Felak May 29, 2026

Show notes

Professor James Felak argues that Catholic social teaching presents a holistic vision of the human person and society, insisting that rights and duties belong together, the market must serve the common good, and neither socialism nor unchecked capitalism can satisfy human dignity.

This lecture was given on November 1st, 2025, at St. Albert's Priory.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Keywords: Capitalism, Common good, Culture, Duties, Human dignity, John Paul II, Market, Property, Rights, Subsidiarity

Astonished at the World: G. K. Chesterton's Philosophy of Wonder – Joe Grabowski May 28, 2026

Show notes

Joe Grabowski presents Chesterton’s philosophy as a disciplined recovery of wonder, arguing that reality is not exhausted by habit, utility, or material explanation but should be seen with childlike astonishment and gratitude.

This lecture was given on March 30th, 2026, at the University of Kansas.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Joe Grabowski is the Vice-President of Evangelization for the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton. He formerly served as executive director for the International Organization for the Family and the World Congress of Families.

Joe has a B.A. in philosophy from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, and an M.A. in English from Marquette University. Joe’s byline, writing on the subjects of traditional marriage and the family, as well as on Catholic Social Teaching and the legacies of Chesterton and Belloc, has appeared in The Catholic Herald, Our Sunday Visitor, The Stream, Gilbert Magazine, Ethika Politika, The Distributist Review, and elsewhere. He has been interviewed in local and national media as an expert on marriage and family public policy and on G.K. Chesterton and Distributism. He serves on the Board of Advisors of the American Solidarity Party.

Joe lives outside Philadelphia, an avid book collector (and occasional reader) and weekly pub quiz enthusiast.

Keywords: Astonishment, Beauty, Chesterton, Conversion, Gratitude, Imagination, Meaning, Wonder, World, Youth

Receiving a Share of God's Kingdom: Vocation and Christian Life according to St. Paul – Fr. Jordan Schmidt, O.P. May 27, 2026

Show notes

Fr. Jordan Schmidt says that vocation is a grace-filled cooperation with God’s kingdom, where renewed discernment helps us choose our way of life and embrace suffering with Christ for the salvation of ourselves and others.

This lecture was given on March 28th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Fr. Jordan Schmidt graduated with a BA in English and Philosophy from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN in 2002. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2005 and after completing his theological studies (STL and Mdiv), he was ordained a priest in 2012. Fr. Jordan initially served as associate pastor of St Mary’s parish in New Haven, CT, and subsequently returned to the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC to pursue doctoral studies at CUA, ultimately earning his PhD in biblical studies in 2018. He is currently an assistant professor of Sacred Scripture at the PFIC where he teaches various Old Testament courses, including survey courses on the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Wisdom literature as well as seminar courses on biblical inspiration, eschatology and apocalyptic literature, theological history, and creation theology.

Keywords: Adoption, Body of Christ, Discernment, Grace, Kingdom of God, Renewal, Suffering, Wisdom

Principles of Discernment – Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. May 26, 2026

Show notes

Fr. Gregory Pine teaches that discernment is less about forcing certainty and more about entering the way Christ reveals himself: gradually, trustingly, and through prayerful relationship.

This lecture was given on March 28th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speakers:

Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., is an instructor of dogmatic and moral theology at the Dominican House of Studies and the Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute. He holds a doctorate from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He is the author of Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly and Your Eucharistic Identity: A Sacramental Guide to the Fullness of Life, and is co-author of Credo: An RCIA Program and Marian Consecration with Aquinas.

His writing also appears in Aleteia, Magnificat, and Ascension’s Catholic Classics series. In addition to the TI podcast, he regularly contributes to the podcasts Godsplaining and Pints with Aquinas, and Catholic Classics.

Keywords: Apostolic friendship, Christ, Discernment, Grace, Parables, Prayer, Providence, Trust, Transformation, Vocation

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