“Summa in a Year” Podcast Makes the Brilliance of Aquinas Accessible to Every Catholic
Brief daily episodes guide listeners through one of the Church’s greatest theological works
Presented in a little-by-little format similar to the wildly popular Bible in a Year and Rosary in a Year podcasts, Summa in a Year invites Catholics at every stage of their faith journey to start 2026 with a daily habit that makes the richness of the Summa Theologica simple, accessible, and deeply meaningful. Hosted by Austin Habash, founder of the evangelization agency Think Catholic, Summa in a Year distills the timeless wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas into daily episodes of 30 minutes or less.
“The Summa Theologica is one of the Church’s most profound and influential summaries of Catholic teaching, yet it’s often seen as overwhelming and intimidating,” said Habash. “Though it’s normally divided into four-five volumes, it spans more than 600 questions and over 4,000 pages, depending on the translation. With Summa in a Year, we wanted to make Aquinas’s insights clear, accessible, and relatable—whether you’re a theology student, a lifelong Catholic, or simply curious about the Catholic worldview.”
At Think Catholic, Habash, a former seminarian, trains parishes and dioceses in effective neighborhood evangelization. From understanding what neighborhood evangelization is, the components of a conversation at the door, and how to build and launch a door-to-door team, Habash encounters people everyday who are lonely, hurting, or seeking truth.
“If you talk to people on the street, their concerns and objections to faith vary widely — and many are deeply philosophical,” said Habash, who discovered the Summa in 2016 while studying for the priesthood. “The challenges of our day are often philosophical at their core, and they demand a philosophical response. Catholics today need to recover an intellectual rigor in the fundamentals of the faith. To me, the Summa is a kind of paraphrase of the Gospel — a way of explaining and defending it in an increasingly secular and scientifically minded world. Intelligent people need intelligent answers to their skeptical questions, and that’s exactly what the Summa provides.”
Each episode breaks down one or two questions from the Summa Theologica, guiding listeners to engage the text with confidence and insight. Following Aquinas’s “exit and return” structure—from God, through creation, and back to God—the podcast explores timeless and timely topics alike, including evolution, the nature of evil, virtue, and happiness.
Episodes run 6 to 30 minutes, making it easy for listeners to engage during a morning commute, daily prayer time, or regular study routine. This approachable format allows Catholics at every stage of their faith journey to integrate the wisdom of Aquinas into daily life, one question at a time.
Summa in a Year is available to download at Apple Podcasts and all other platforms where podcasts can be streamed.
