Encyclopedia of Catholic Theology

Vist ect.org Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 22 and the Pharisees’ attempt to entrap Jesus with a question about paying taxes to Caesar. Rather than becoming entangled in their words, Jesus directs their attention to reality itself. Truth is not something we fabricate through language or opinion, but something grounded in the reality God has created. In a world preoccupied with speech...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Philippians 4:13 and Saint Paul's declaration: “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” We often understand this verse as a promise that Jesus will strengthen us to accomplish the things we desire. But Saint Paul reveals something deeper. Whether living in abundance or in need, in success or in failure, his strength comes from having Christ at the center...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Philippians 4 and Saint Paul’s command: “Have no anxiety at all.” In an age characterized by anxiety, stress, and constant distraction, Saint Paul directs our attention toward whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, and excellent. We become united to what we contemplate. What occupies our minds does not leave us unaffected, but gradually shape...

Domenic D’Ettore and Carl A. Vater reunite for Encounter to discuss the scholars and questions that shaped their approaches to medieval philosophy. D’Ettorre reflects on how the problem of analogy led him deeper into Aquinas and the Thomistic commentary tradition, while Vater discusses studying under Timothy Noone and learning to “read all the boys.” Th… This is a public episode. If you'd like to...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Ezekiel 18 and the question of whether God’s ways are fair. Sin and vice are not merely violations of arbitrary rules. They contradict the proper order of reality and ultimately work against the goodness and happiness for which the human person was created. When we sin, we do not injure God as though our actions could diminish Him. We injure ourselves by acting...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Philippians 1 and Saint Paul’s declaration that “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.”The body is not incidental to the Christian faith. To be human is to be a unity of body and rational soul, and the salvation Christ accomplishes includes the whole human person. This is why Christians profess belief in the resurrection of the body....

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 18 and Saint Peter’s question: “How often must I forgive?”As finite creatures, we naturally count, measure, and compare. But God’s mercy does not exist within the limits of quantity. His attention is directed not toward a number, but toward the person He loves. Jesus invites us to stop counting, justifying, and measuring ourselves. In the sacraments, He...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 18 and Christ’s promise: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Catholic life is not fundamentally about ideological agreement, personality, social events, or even geographic convenience. We gather together because of Jesus. The parish is the sacramental home of the Christian life. It is there that Christ...

How did medieval thinkers understand reality, human nature, and our ultimate purpose? In this episode of In Focus, Dr. Carl Vater introduces medieval philosophy from roughly 1225 to 1308 — a pivotal period shaped by the rise of the universities, the rediscovery of Aristotle, and thinkers such as St. Thomas Aquinas and Blessed John Duns Scotus. He explores major medieval debates concerning metaphys...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 16 and Christ’s words: “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Jesus presents us with a paradox: we find our lives precisely by giving them up. But the Christian does not lose his life only to be left with nothing. We let go of our attempts at self-justification, self-validation, and self-salvation in order to receive our true identity in Chri...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 16 and Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”Peter does not discover Christ’s identity through his own reasoning, preferences, or convictions. Jesus tells him that “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”The same principle applies to the Church. We do not understand bishops, the hierarchy,...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Romans 11 and St. Paul’s declaration that the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Our weakness, mistakes, and even sin do not change who God is. His wisdom, mercy, and providence remain sure because God Himself does not change. The Christian life therefore has no room for ultimate despair. Our contingency and fragility cannot frustrate the power of divine...

What does it mean to speak truthfully about God? In this episode of In Focus , Dr. Dominic De Torre introduces the theology of analogy — the way the Church speaks about God without reducing Him to a creature or making Him unknowable. He explains the difference between univocal, equivocal, and analogous language, explores why analogy is essential for Catholic theology, and shows how it allows us to...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 13 and Christ's parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price. Jesus does not teach that the Christian life is about despising the good things of this world. Rather, He reveals that every created good finds its proper place when ordered to the greatest good: God Himself. The saints do not hate the world. They simply love God more than the...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Romans 8 and St. Paul's teaching that "we do not know how to pray as we ought."Prayer is not something we accomplish on our own. Even in our weakness, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid, interceding within us and raising our minds to God. The Christian life does not begin with finding the perfect words or mastering the right formula. It begins with God's own Spiri...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 13 and the Parable of the Sower. Every seed hears the word, but not every seed bears fruit. Some receive it with joy, yet have no root. Others hear and understand, becoming deeply rooted in Christ. Jesus reveals that lasting faith is more than an emotional response or intellectual interest. True understanding comes only by remaining rooted in Him, the et...

In this episode of the Encyclopedia of Catholic Theology podcast, Dr. Richard DeClue reflects on his journey from studying biology and selling Porsches to becoming a Catholic theologian and professor at the Word on Fire Institute. He discusses his formation at Belmont Abbey College, Boston College, and the Catholic University of America, before exploring Eucharistic ecclesiology and why the Euchar...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 11 and Christ’s words: “You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to little ones.” Jesus is not condemning intelligence or praising ignorance. He reveals that the mysteries of God are not mastered through human ingenuity but received through union with Him. The little ones are those who allow themselves to be shaped by...

What is the relationship between the Eucharist and the Church? In this episode of In Focus, Dr. Richard DeClue introduces Eucharistic ecclesiology — the study of the Church understood through her intrinsic connection to the Eucharist. He defines the theological framework, traces the Eucharist's role in the Church's origin, nature, structure, and mission, and shows how the sacrament is not merely s...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 10 and Christ’s challenging words: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.”Jesus is not asking us to love our families less. Rather, He reveals that no human relationship is capable of bearing the fullness of the love He desires to give us. The deepest loves of family and friendship are real and good, but they remain finite. Onl...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 10 and Christ’s command: “Fear no one.”We often live according to how we are perceived by others, shaping our lives around their judgments, whether favorable or critical. This tendency can become so strong that our sense of identity is rooted more in the minds of others than in reality itself. But Jesus redirects our attention. We do not exist most truly...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on Matthew 9 and the significance of Jesus’ compassion. When Jesus sees the crowds, His heart is “moved with pity.” This reveals something essential: the emotional life is not inherently disordered or sinful. Christ shows us that to be human is not only to think and to choose, but also to feel. And because Jesus is like us in all things but sin, His emotions reveal...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on John 6 and the shocking claim at the heart of the Eucharist."I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever." The Jews quarreled among themselves — not because the question was bad, but because they turned inward rather than toward Jesus. This is the great temptation for all of us. When faced with a saving truth we ca...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on John 3:16 and the claim that there is no neutrality before Christ. Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned — but whoever does not believe has already been condemned. Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save it. The choice, however, cannot be avoided. There are only two saviors: Jesus, who came to draw us into union with Himself — and ourselves,...

Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. reflects on John 20 and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The disciples are afraid, hiding behind locked doors. Yet Jesus comes to them, bringing peace and instituting the sacrament of confession. Even today, we can feel distant from Christ—held back by fear, sin, or shame. But the Gospel reveals a powerful truth: nothing can separate us from Jesus. St. Paul teaches that “no one...