Summa Made Simple

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! Magnificence is the virtue concerned with spending large sums on great undertakings — which is exactly why most people assume it has nothing to do with them. In this episode, we confront that assumption head-on. We unpack what magnificence ac...

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! We all know what it feels like to step back from something we could — and probably should — take on. That shrinking, that discouragement, that fear of failing again after past failures… that’s exactly what this episode tackles. And the tradit...

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! Vainglory isn’t just about wanting attention — it’s one of the seven deadly sins that quietly poisons everyday life. In this episode, we dig into the messy fallout it creates: discord, obstinacy, the need to be “different” just to stand out,...

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! Glory isn’t the problem — empty glory is. In this episode, we break down the vice of vainglory and why it’s everywhere today, especially online. You’ll hear what makes the desire for glory praiseworthy, what makes it hollow, and how to think...

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! Most people assume ambition is harmless — even admirable. But once you pin down what ambition actually is, the picture changes fast. In this episode, we break open a definition that reveals why ambition can cross the line into sin, and why th...

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! We talk about “respecting nature” all the time — the oceans, the forests, the planet. But what about human nature? In this episode, we take a hard look at the sin of presumption — the temptation to push past our limits and manipulate what’s m...

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! Magnanimity might sound lofty, but it’s meant to be lived. In this episode, we dig into the hidden practical wisdom of Aquinas’s Summa —the kind that’s tucked between the objections and replies. Step by step, we uncover some of the practical...

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! We all want to be respected, admired, even celebrated—but that craving can easily twist into vanity. In this episode, we go straight to the heart of the tension between ambition and humility and uncover the forgotten virtue that helps us bala...

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! We love to talk about resilience or fortitude —but most of us have no idea what it really looks like. It isn’t just grit. It isn’t just endurance. And it definitely isn’t pretending you’re fine when you’re not. In this episode, we unpack the...

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! Fear is supposed to protect us—but what if it’s the very thing that’s killing our courage? In this episode, we pull fear apart and find two very different forces at work: one that keeps us alive, and one that keeps us from living. The first w...

Love this content? Become a paying subscriber and help create more. Support via Substack (from $5 a month) | Support on Patreon (from $1 a month) Thank you ! When we hear the word martyrdom , we often imagine distant lands and people caught in the grip of extremists. But martyrdom isn’t only a story that happens “somewhere else.” In this episode, we uncover the unexpected faces of martyrdom in our...

Doing good is supposed to make us feel good , right? WRONG! Let's be honest. Doing good doesn't always give us a warm fuzzy feeling. In fact, it often down-right sucks. But why is that the case? Find out in this episode of "Summa Made Simple", where we discuss why doing the right thing isn't usually pleasant and delightful. Read the relevant Article from the Summa Theologica here: Part 2 of 2, Que...

Feelings often get in the way of things and mess things up. So why even have them if they cause so much trouble? Find out in this Episode of "Summa Made Simple", where we explore the usefulness of emotions and the good role they can play in our lives. Read the relevant Article from the Summa Theologica here: Part 2 of 2, Question 123, Article 10. Whether the brave man makes use of anger in his act...

If someone cuts in ahead of you at the supermarket checkout counter, is it more courageous to call them out or to grin and bear it? The answer may surprise you. Find out in Episode 2 of Summa Made Simple, where we dive into the relationship between fortitude and endurance. Read the relevant Article from the Summa Theologica here: Part 2 of 2, Question 123, Article 6. Whether endurance is the chief...

If fortitude WERE NOT a virtue, what would that mean for you and me? A bleak and miserable existence! Welcome to Episode 1 of Summa Made Simple. In this Episode we will discuss the rationale of the show, then jump straight into the question whether fortitude is a virtue or not. I know the intro jingle is corny. That's by design. The Summa Theologica , written by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 1200s, is...