The grace of the Year of Faith is meant not only to help Catholics in their personal following of the Lord, but also to impact their families, parishes, communities, and societies, strengthening them in faith to become the salt, light, and leaven of all of society. In the midst of secularist attempts to reduce faith to private behavior, both the Pope and the U.S. Bishops have been calling Catholics to a truly consequential faith that works through love (Gal 5:6). In this talk, Father Landry will examine how the Year of Faith is meant to impact the public witness of both Catholic individuals and Catholic institutions.

Fr. Roger Landry is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, where he is pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in the Sea City and a columnist for the Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese for which he was the executive editor for seven years. He writes and speaks widely on the thought of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI and on difficult and controversial issues of Catholicism to priests, religious, students at colleges and schools, conferences and parishes. He is the national chaplain for Catholic Voices, an organization founded earlier this year to train and place bright Catholic lay spokesmen capable of defending and promoting Catholic teaching and practice in the public square. His writings, homilies and lectures are available on www.catholicpreaching.com.

In recent years, biologists have sequenced the genomes of numerous individuals scattered throughout the planet. They have also been able to obtain genome information from extinct hominin species including the Neanderthals and Denisovans. Altogether this data suggests that the human species evolved from a small population of individuals living in east Africa about 100,000 years ago. In this lecture, using the inseparable and harmonious benefits of faith and reason, Father Nicanor Austracio, O.P. will not only explore the scientific basis for these claims but also begin to reconcile them with the truths of the faith revealed in Sacred Scripture.

Father Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austracio, O.P. is an Associate Professor of Biology at Providence College. He holds a B.S. in Engineering (bioengineering) from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology, both from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. Father has also served as Fellow of the International Human Frontier Science Program for the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University College London. The subjects for his research and published work range from the life cycle of yeast, to bioethics, to moral theology. His most recent work is a book entitled Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics, published in December 2011 by the Catholic University of America Press.

In this lecture, Sister Mary Diana Dreger, O.P., M.D., considers audience-submitted questions and presents an engaging medical perspective to current moral issues affecting women and families.

Sister has been providing health care for medically underserved patients at the Saint Thomas Family Health Center South Clinic since 2007. After entering the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in 1989, Sister Mary Diana completed her medical training and residency in internal medicine at Vanderbilt University in 2004. Sister is a member of the Aquinas College Board of Directors and the Catholic Medical Association in Nashville.

Vincent Ryan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Aquinas College, reviews the history of the Crusades and the Devotion to Mary that pervaded them.

Dr. Ryan studied under renowned Crusades historian Dr. Thomas F. Madden at St. Louis University where he was also co-founder of the Crusades Studies Forum.

Father Albert Trudel, O.P. brings a real and reasoned perspective to a most fanciful and endearing literary giant.

Fr. Albert at the time was Associate Professor of English and Director of the Center for Faith and Culture at Aquinas College. He is now at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.

Father Brian Mullady, O.P. explores the various difficulties of relating to faith in Christ today, and what challenges the true answer offers to us in today’s world. This lecture, part of the Aquinas College Fall Lecture Series, was recorded on the evening of Thursday, October 17, 2013.

Father Brian Thomas Becket Mullady, O.P. entered the Dominican Order in 1966. He has been a parish priest as well as a teacher in high schools, colleges, and seminaries. He is the author of three books and numerous articles. He received his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Angelicum University in Rome, Italy, where he also taught for six years. He is an academician of the Catholic Academy of Science and has hosted seven series on the EWTN television network.

What does it mean to be a “person” and where does this concept come from? Most of us today would be surprised to learn that it comes from the Bible, and that philosophers did not discover it on their own. Hear why and how this idea came to take shape, and what might become of it, and of us, if we forget where we first learned it.

Dr. Bulzacchelli began working at Aquinas College in 2004 and helped develop Aquinas College’s Bachelor of Arts major in Theology. His most recent book “Elohim Created”: A New Look at the First Creation Narrative was published earlier this year. He is a Senior Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and has also authored Judged by the Law of Freedom: A History of the Faith-Works Controversy, and a Resolution in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas (University Press of America, 2006). He received an M.A. in Christian Philosophy from Marquette University, an M.A. in Religious Studies from Providence College, a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Dominican House of Studies, and the S.T.D. in theology from the International Marian Research Institute of the University of Dayton.

Historical Christianity defines human dignity according to the Biblical teaching that man is made in God’s image, but since the Enlightenment this view has been consistently challenged by various secular philosophies. Dr. Ben Smith explains why the secular alternatives to Christianity fail, and what this means for men and women in the modern world.

Benjamin L. Smith, Ph.D. graduated Cum Laude from Belmont University with a B.A. in History and Philosophy and served two years as the President of Phi Sigma Tau. During this time he entered the Catholic Church (1995). He earned an M.A. in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Center for Thomistic Studies. Dr. Smith has presented and published professionally, including a forthcoming article, “Imago Dei: Nature, Grace, and Glory According to Saint Thomas Aquinas.”

Author and Speaker, Joseph Pearce looks at the life and times of one of the 20th century’s most profound and honest authors and Catholic apologists, G.K. Chesterton. Recorded on March 7, 2013 at Aquinas College.