Sharing the Faith with Dr. Tom Neal

In this solo episode, Dr. Tom Neal reflects on the people who have most shaped his life, especially a formative middle school tutor, exploring how genuine listening, compassion, and willing “the good of the other” shaped his Catholic faith and his approach to listening and supporting others.

Dr. Tom Neal welcomes back Mandie DeVries to explore mystagogy and the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. They dive into how children—and adults—are gently led into the mysteries of the faith through signs: baptismal light, candles, the gestures of the Mass, the stories of scripture, and the very structure of the liturgy itself.

Dr. Tom Neal welcomes Mandie DeVries back to the podcast to explore how the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd introduces children to the mystery of divinization—sharing in God’s own life—through wonder, liturgical signs like the preparation of the chalice, and the parable of the prodigal son.

Dr. Tom Neal talks with Orthodox theologian Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk about the Christian doctrine of deification (theosis) — our participation in God’s life by grace — and how this vision reshapes salvation beyond mere moralism, bridges Eastern and Western traditions, and speaks powerfully to ecumenism, suffering, ecology, and the work of IOTA and The Oxford Handbook on Deification.
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Dr. Tom Neal talks with returning guest Father David Kelly about his decades of priestly and missionary service and how Catholic moral theology shapes our understanding of poverty, the common good, and the dignity of every human person. They discuss why shared moral truths—not relativism—are essential for justice, democracy, and a truly humane society.