The Thomistic Institute

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

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

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

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: Grace, Happiness, Hierarchy, Holiness, Providence, Parables, Sower, Spiritual Life, Sacraments, Trust

Sr. Mary Madeline Todd argues that Christ calls us not merely to survive but to thrive, and that “life to the full” comes through meaning, suffering united to love, disciplined commitment, wonder, prayer, and sacramental life.

This lecture was given on March 27th, 2026, at University of South Alabama.

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

About the Speakers:

Sister Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., a Dominican Sister of the Congregation of Saint Cecilia, has spent over three decades joyfully living consecrated life and sharing the teaching ministry of Christ. After completing a master’s degree in English at the University of Memphis and in theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Sister was blessed to study in Rome, earning her doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. Sister Mary Madeline speaks and writes on spiritual and moral theology. She currently teaches theology at Aquinas College in Nashville, where she finds joy in helping the next generation discover the liberating freedom of who they are in Christ.

Keywords: Acedia, Beauty, Boredom, Eucharist, Fatigue, Fullness of Life, Meaning, Prayer, Suffering, Wonder

Prof. Alexander Pruss argues that science is powerful but limited, because it depends on presuppositions about logic, rationality, uniformity of nature, and value judgments that science itself cannot justify, and because human fulfillment ultimately points beyond reason to faith in an infinite being.

This lecture was given on April 14th, 2026, at Florida State University.

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

About the Speakers:

Alexander Pruss is professor of philosophy at Baylor University. He has two PhDs, one in mathematics and one in philosophy, and does research in metaphysics, philosophy of religion, ethics, epistemology, philosophy of science and philosophy of mathematics. Much of his work is centered on showing how pretty much everything in reality points to the existence of God. His books include The Principle of Sufficient Reason, Infinity, Paradox, and Causation, and One Body: An Essay in Christian Sexual Ethics. In his spare time, Pruss engages in a variety of hobbies including electronics, software development, and indoor rock climbing where he recently got two Guinness World Records.

Keywords: Aristotle, Faith, Happiness, Human Nature, Infinity, Logic, Rationality, Science, Uniformity of Nature, Ultimate Origins

Prof. Gaven Kerr argues that Aquinas is central to Catholic theology because Thomas provides the systematic, deductive, and scripturally grounded framework needed to articulate doctrine about God, Trinity, and salvation.

This lecture was given on March 26th, 2026, at Maynooth University.

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

About the Speakers:

Gaven Kerr is a married father of three and a third order Dominican. He has degrees in scholastic philosophy and philosophy from Queen’s University Belfast: BA, MPhil, and PhD. His doctoral research was on the thought of Thomas Aquinas and Immanuel Kant. Gaven’s research focuses on the thought of St Thomas Aquinas and his connection with other important thinkers in the history of philosophy and theology. He has published articles in the Thomist, the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, International Philosophical Quarterly, Journal of Philosophical Research, Yearbook of the Irish Philosophical Society. Gaven has two books with Oxford University Press. The first was published in 2015, Aquinas’s Way to God, and it dealt with Aquinas’s proof of God in the De Ente et Essentia. His second book which is due out later this year is on Aquinas and the metaphysics of creation. Gaven has taught philosophy at Queen’s University Belfast, St. Malachy’s Seminary Belfast, and Maynooth University. He has taught at Mary Immaculate College Limerick. He currently teaches philosophy at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth.

Keywords: Aquinas, Catholic Theology, Divine Simplicity, Dogmatic Theology, Fides et Ratio, Scriptural Interpretation, Sacramental Causality, Trinity, Theology as Science, Thomism

Prof. Paul Scherz argues that AI-driven precision medicine and genetic risk prediction can undermine human dignity by turning health into an endless management of risk, increasing anxiety, weakening prudence, and subordinating both patients and clinicians to institutional control.

This lecture was given on March 26th, 2026, at New York University.

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

About the Speakers:

Paul Scherz is the Our Lady of Guadalupe Professor of Theology. His work examines the intersection of theology, science, medicine, and technology. His interests in ethics center on the role of virtue ethics, especially Stoic virtue ethics, in moral theology. He has published articles on many topics in bioethics, such as human enhancement, genetic technology, and end of life ethics. His books analyze issues like the moral formation of scientists, the role of risk in contemporary practical reason, the ethics of precision medicine, and the ethics of artificial intelligence.

He began his career in science with a BA in molecular and cell biology from UC Berkeley (2001), a PhD in genetics from Harvard (2005), and a postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF. He then received an MTS and a PhD in moral theology from the University of Notre Dame (2010, 2014). His previous teaching positions were at the Catholic University of America and the University of Virginia. He is currently working on projects on the ethics of artificial intelligence and the historical influence of Stoicism on moral theology.

Keywords: AI, Automation Bias, Clinical Judgment, Dignity, Explainable AI, Genetic Risk, Precision Medicine, Prudence, Risk Reduction, Surveillance Capitalism

Prof. Raymond Hain presents John Henry Newman’s Idea of a University as a powerful defense of liberal education, arguing that a university should include theology because all knowledge forms one interconnected whole, yet also insisting that intellectual excellence is not the same as moral holiness.

This lecture was given on March 26th, 2026, at University of Alabama.

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

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: Education, Intellectual Formation, John Henry Newman, Knowledge, Liberal Education, St. Philip Neri, Theology, Theology in the Curriculum, University, Virtue, Whole of Knowledge

Prof. Christopher Malloy argues that Vatican II does not permit a hermeneutic of rupture but demands one of continuity and reform, as Benedict XVI taught, rejecting both progressive over-spiritualization and traditionalist rejection of post-conciliar developments.

This lecture was given on March 24th, 2026, at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

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

About the Speakers:

Christopher J. Malloy is married to Flory with whom he has seven children. He earned his B.A. in Theology (second major in Philosophy) from the University of Notre Dame in 1992. He earned his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology (minor in Philosophy) from The Catholic University of America in 2001. Since then he has taught at The University of Dallas, where he currently serves as Professor and Chair of Theology. He has published three books: Engrafted into Christ: A Critique of the Joint Declaration [on Justification], Aquinas on Beatific Charity and the Problem of Love, and False Mercy: Recent Heresies Distorting Catholic Truth. He has published numerous blind peer-reviewed articles for journals such as The Thomist, Nova et Vetera, Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie, Josephinum, Angelicum, etc. He loves academia, especially publishing and teaching systematic theology, but he has always been fired up to give popular presentations highlighting the intelligibility and beauty of the Catholic faith, since that was the reason he got into Theology in the first place.



Keywords: Benedict XVI, Continuity, Dei Verbum, Dignitatis Humanae, Hermeneutic of Rupture, Inerrancy, Lumen Gentium, Religious Freedom, Vatican II Reception