The Thomistic Institute

Fr. Cassian Derbes, OP, examines the Thomistic distinction between the active and contemplative lives, arguing that they are not merely states of life but distinct activities that find their highest expression in the beatific vision.

This lecture was given on June 20th, 2026, at New York University.

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

About the Speaker:

Fr. Cassian Derbes, O.P. is a priest of the Dominican Province of Saint Joseph. He is currently the Director of the Catholic Center at NYU. He previously was a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame in the Mendoza College of Business. Prior to that position, Father Cassian served as vice dean and professor of theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. His previous teaching positions include as adjunct professor of theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio. Father Cassian earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) from the Angelicum. He has a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, a Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) from New York University (N.Y.U.), and he is a graduate of Jesuit High School in New Orleans, Louisiana. From 2014-2020, Father Cassian served as director of an initiative at the Vatican under Pope Francis to design, implement, and teach an executive leadership development program for the Cardinals, Bishops, and senior lay officials of the Roman Curia. Father Cassian is a Missionary of Mercy, having been appointed by Pope Francis in 2015.

Keywords: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Contemplative Life, Contemplation, Active Life, Dominican Spirituality, Theology, Beatific Vision, Summa Theologiae

Prof. Michael Foley examines the pre-Christian roots of honor in Western civilization, contrasting the competitive, individualistic nature of classical honor with the moral critiques found in both Greco-Roman philosophy and the Hebrew Bible.

This lecture was given on September 4th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies.

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

About the Speaker:

Michael Foley is a Catholic theologian, a Professor of Patristics at Baylor University, and the author of 500 articles and eighteen books, including the bestseller Drinking with the Saints, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Christianity, and Dining with the Saints. He speaks on a wide variety of topics touching upon Catholicism, culture, and the value of the liberal arts.

Keywords: Honor, Western Civilization, Virtue Ethics, Chivalry, Humility, Culture, Odyssey, Classical Literature

Prof. Daniel Garland explores how the Gospel of John presents the Eucharist as the theological center of the narrative, arguing that the Incarnation and the seven signs are ordered toward our participation in the divine life through the body and blood of Christ.

This lecture was given on September 24th, 2026, at Ashland University.

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

About the Speaker:

Daniel M. Garland, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Sacred Scripture at Saint Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in the Diocese of Cleveland and a deacon candidate for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat. He holds a doctorate in Systematic Theology (with a minor in Biblical Theology) from Ave Maria University. His research interests are in Sacred Scripture, Patristic and Thomistic Exegesis, Sacraments, and Christology.

Keywords: Gospel Of John, Eucharistic Theology, Sacraments, Eucharist, Temple Theology, Theosis, Incarnation, Johannine Literature

Prof. Jane Sloan Peters explores how Saint Thomas Aquinas’s Catena Aurea serves as a transformative synthesis of patristic thought, demonstrating how his masterful arrangement of the Church Fathers shaped his own theological development and remains a vital resource for contemporary study.

This lecture was given on September 17th, 2026, at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

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

About the Speaker:

Jane Sloan Peters is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY. Her dissertation explored Thomas Aquinas's reception of Greek patristic and Byzantine biblical interpretation for his four-volume commentary on the Gospels, the Catena Aurea. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and three sons.

Keywords: Catena Aurea, Thomas Aquinas, Patristic Theology, Sacred Doctrine, Bible, Biblical Exegesis, Church Fathers, Christology

Poet and cultural critic Dana Gioia explores the vital role of beauty in the Catholic imagination, arguing that beauty is an objective, transformative experience that connects us to truth and the secrets of existence.

This lecture was given on October 22nd, 2026, at University of California, Los Angeles.

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

About the Speaker:

Dana Gioia is an internationally recognized poet, critic, and former Poet Laureate of California. He is the author of six collections of verse, including Interrogations at Noon (2001), which won the American Book Award, and 99 Poems: New & Selected (2016), which was awarded the Poets’ Prize. His most recent collection is Meet Me at the Lighthouse (2023). His poems have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Gioia’s critical collections include Can Poetry Matter? (1992), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Award and The Catholic Writer Today and Other Essays (2019) whose title essay started an international debate about the role of faith in contemporary literature. Gioia has also written four opera libretti and edited over twenty anthologies.

For six years Gioia served as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. In that office he launched the largest cultural programs in the agency’s history, including The Big Read, Poetry Out Loud, Shakespeare for a New Generation, and Operation Homecoming, the first NEA program created for military personnel. Gioia built a bi-partisan majority in both Houses of Congress and raised the arts budget each year he was in office. Known as “the man who saved the NEA,’ Gioia was awarded the Presidential Civilian Medal for his services.

Gioia has been awarded 11 honorary doctorates. He has also received the Laetare Medal from Notre Dame, Aiken-Taylor Award in Modern Poetry, and John Carroll Medal. For nine years he was the Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture at the University of Southern California. He resigned his chair in 2019 to write full-time.

Gioia and his wife Mary split their time between Sonoma County and Los Angeles. He is a parishioner at St. Eugene’s Cathedral in Santa Rosa and Holy Family in South Pasadena.

This project/publication was made possible through the support of Grant 63391 from the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation.

Keywords: Transcendentals, Dana Gioia, Beauty, Thomistic Philosophy, Jacques Maritain, Transcendence, Aesthetics, Truth, Architecture