Death Comes to the Soul: The Vulnerable Christian in Distress – Fr. Gabriel O'Donnell

About this episode

Fr. Gabriel O'Donnell discusses the essence of the Christian life as a journey towards becoming a whole person through self-knowledge and relationship with Christ.

Fr. Gabriel O’Donnell argues that the Christian life is not mainly about rule-following or behavior modification, but about becoming a whole, Godward person through self-knowledge, acceptance, and relationship with Christ. This lecture was given on March 14th, 2026, at Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events . About the Speakers: Fr. O’Donnell grew up in Syracuse, New York. After two years as a student at Providence College, he entered the Order of Preachers in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1970. In 1971 he earned an MA in Liturgical Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and in 1980 earned an STD degree in the area of Liturgical Spiritual Theology from the Pontifical Faculty for Spirituality, the Teresianum, in Rome. He has previously taught at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia, PA and the Angelicum in Rome. In addition to teaching, he currently serves as a vice-postulator for the cause for sainthood of Father Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus, and as vice-postulator for the cause of Rose Hawthorne, founder of…

People in this episode

Guest: Fr. Gabriel O'Donnell

Topics covered

• Christian life
• self-knowledge
• relationship with Christ
• spirituality
• liturgical studies

Keywords

• Christianity
• spirituality
• self-knowledge
• liturgical studies
• relationship with Christ

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Dominican House of Studies, Providence College, University of Notre Dame, Pontifical Faculty for Spirituality, the Teresianum, Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, St. Charles Seminary, Angelicum, Knights of Columbus, Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, NY

Places: Syracuse, New York

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