Deification: A secret in the Catholic Church that really shouldn’t be a secret. Join Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr Matthew Tsakanikas, professor of theology at Christendom College, and Dr. Peter for a wide-ranging discussion of the glory, the adventure, the awe of partaking of God’s divine nature with the entirety of our being – our hearts, souls, minds, bodies, innermost selves, and all our parts, from a perspective informed by Internal Family Systems and grounded in a Catholic anthropology and metaphysics. What does it really mean for all of you to be a beloved little son or beloved little daughter of God?

Books by Dr. Matthew Tsakanikas:

2025 A Catechesis on Deification, Transfiguration & the Luminous Mysteries: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DX1HZMLM/

2026 Meditations on Deification and the Luminous Mysteries: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0GWVYQGPP

Check out our sister podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@ScriptureForYourInnerOutcasts

The Resilient Catholics Community is about to reopen for new members in June. If you are a Catholic who wants to overcome the natural level obstacles to sharing deeply in God's divine nature as his beloved little son or beloved little daughter, and are into parts and systems thinking, consider applying to the RCC at www.soulsandhearts.com/rcc.

Online Workshop for those Catholic Formators new to IFS, “Catholic Parts Work in Human Formation” will be on June 10, 2026 from 8:00 PM to 9:30 PM Eastern, register at https://members.soulsandhearts.com/Catholic-parts-work

The Formation for Formators Retreat is August 10-13, 2026 in Bloomington Indiana. The theme is “Authentic Being and Authentic Relating.” This retreat focuses on you finding and loving you in more of your parts, including parts you have not yet encountered – your exiles – more at www.soulsandhearts.com/FFF

Conversation Hours with Dr. Peter are every Tuesday and Thursday from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM Eastern Time on his cell at 317.567.9594 – it’s an opportunity to discuss themes from this podcat or any of the materials generated by Souls and Hearts.

Key Moments

12:00 What is deification/theosis/divinization? Being made a son or daughter of God means sharing in God’s nature.

15:00 Ephesians chapter 1 reveals God’s plan from before the foundation of the world to makes us sons in the Son.

16:52 Dr. Gerry’s objections to the IFS conceptualization of “Self”

21:01 The image of God within us is dynamic – the “capax Dei”

21:50 How Adam and Eve lost their interior integration with the Fall and how Jesus opens the way for re-integration.

27:05 Satan to Adam and Eve “Ye shall become like gods….”

30:30 How do we receive the love of God?

34:20 The internal battle: “Parts of me are drawn to receive God’s love and parts of me are not…”

41:19 The necessity of entering into a loving relationship with Jesus for interior integration

43:40 God’s wills that you flourish in all domains and in all your parts

48:40 Divinization and the human body

53:00 Divinization is “too hot to handle” for many Christians – but it’s the essential framework for all of the Catholic life, it’s the essential story that holds all the other stories.

1:02:00 The importance of accepting all of my parts as they are right now. God accepts all parts as they are, so I need to as well. Acceptance of a part does not mean endorsing that part’s disordered desires, impulses, and emotions

1:08:35 Sometimes parts find it easier to tolerate being loved by someone other than God at first, and that lesser loves can help parts open up to God’s direct love

1:25:01 Dr. Tsakanikas’ key takeaway: Love makes the lover want to make the beloved equal to himself,

1:26:28 Dr, Gerry’s takeaway: It’s important for us to evangelize each of our own parts

1:27:54 Dr. Peter’s takeaway: Real love is given freely. But in our fallen human states, in our fallen human condition, it's not received without a cost to our parts.

Moral theologian Fr. Thomas Berg and philosopher and therapist Dr. Andrea Messineo take on the topic of personal conscience and parts work through a Catholic lens. We explore the relationships among conscience, parts, the innermost self, the intellect, the will, impulses, and desires. We address concupiscence and parts, and offer specific examples. Join us for a fascinating exploration of conscience and parts.

Check out these other episodes:

https://youtu.be/bw-zUp2h_TA

https://youtu.be/f5MNCaCJLyc

https://youtu.be/Isxmlx8pQAs

Dr. Peter’s advanced group for Catholic formators: Relating Wholeheartedly with God in Prayer, Mondays from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM Eastern starting on March 9, 2026. Find out more here: https://members.soulsandhearts.com/registration

Dr. Gerry’s advanced group for Catholic formators: Surviving, Healing, Thriving, and Flourishing - A Path To Greater Integration Wednesdays from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM Eastern, starting on March 11, 2026

Fr. Thomas Berg’s books:

Hurting in the Church: A Way Forward for Wounded Catholics: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hurting-in-the-church-fr-thomas-berg/1124597873

Choosing Forgiveness: Unleash the Power of God's Grace: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/choosing-forgiveness-fr-thomas-berg/1140395384?ean=9781681926537

Dr. Andrea Messineo’s book, Alone in Church: https://www.amazon.com/ALONE-CHURCH-Andrea-Messineo/dp/1732054290

Check out Dr. Messineo’s website at andreamessineolpcc.com

Key moments:

16:15 What are the relationships among one's innermost self, one's parts, and one's conscience?

21:25 St. Thomas Aquinas’ emphasis on prudence

23:30 How parts with emotions have a role in a well-formed conscience and the innermost self does not have a “localized omniscience.”

31:30 What are the relationships among parts and the faculties of the intellect and the will?

37:00 Parts are closely connected with impulses and desires, driving agendas

40:00 What about addictions, obsessions, and compulsions?

45:40 Can a person possess a virtue, but parts of that person not have access to that virtue?

56:20 Does the innermost self need any formation from others, or is it complete, as Richard Schwartz maintains?

1:08:00 Causal chains that lead to morally problematic behaviors

1:17:20 What is concupiscence and does it always need to be lodged in a part?

Catholic philosopher Dr. Andrea Messineo and moral theologian Fr. Thomas Berg guide us in moral reasoning from a parts perspective, grounded in Alasdair MacIntyre’s Thomistic thought. Join us as we romp through understanding the development of moral reasoning informed by IFS, “values clarification”, Winnicott’s object relations model, the importance of unblending and recollection for clarity in moral reasoning, the necessity of dependence on others, the proper use and the misuse of penance and mortification, how accepting a part does not mean endorsing that part’s impulses and desires, and so much more.

Fr. Thomas Berg’s books:

Hurting in the Church: A Way Forward for Wounded Catholics: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hurting-in-the-church-fr-thomas-berg/1124597873

Choosing Forgiveness: Unleash the Power of God's Grace: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/choosing-forgiveness-fr-thomas-berg/1140395384?ean=9781681926537

Dr. Andrea Messineo’s book “Alone in Church”: https://www.amazon.com/ALONE-CHURCH-Andrea-Messineo/dp/1732054290 Check out Dr.

Messineo’s website at Andreamessineolpcc.com

If you want to flourish in loving God, your neighbor, and yourself, with other Catholics in a structured program informed by Internal Family Systems and grounded in a Catholic worldview, check out the Resilient Catholics Community here: https://soulsandhearts.com/rcc and check out our informational video here: https://vimeo.com/1160648485/1d2c052338?fl=ip&fe=ec

New groups are forming for Catholic formators – counselors, coaches, spiritual directors, priests, and others who individually accompany others in their formation are welcome to join our Formation for Formators community. Details are here: https://soulsandhearts.com/fff

You need to love yourself properly to love others in an ordered way. How can we understand St. Thomas Aquinas' insistence on us governing our passions from an IFS perspective in a way that loves our passionate parts? How can we be detached from worldly goods? Do saints get blended with their parts? Are there benefits to some kinds of blending with parts? How can we frame the Theology of the Body to resonate more with women's concerns? How can we consider both errors of commission vs. errors of omission in parts work? What about the importance of mercy, the centrality of love, the requirement of interior integration in for human formation through an Internal Family Systems lens, grounded in a Catholic understanding of the human person? Join Dr. Gerry Crete, Dr. Peter Martin, and Dr. Peter Malinoski take these questions and more in this episode with a live audience.

Christopher West has recently embraced IFS and parts work because of Dr. Gerry Crete’s book, Litanies of the Heart. Dr. West shares the impact of IFS in his life, seeing it as a “missing piece,” a key to internalizing and living out the powerful message of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. In this episode, Dr. West, Dr. Gerry, and Dr. Peter invite you into their rollicking, wide ranging, and deep conversation about “marrying” TOB and IFS -- and how the TOB/IFS union brings guidance and light in redeeming eros, healing from trauma, growing in interior integration, living chastely, and loving our parts that experience lustful desires and impulses. For the full video experience with Beth West's painting of eros, the crumpled painting analogy, and all our visuals, gestures, and graphics, and for conversation and sharing in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

A sure norm for teaching the faith – that’s what the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is, according to St. John Paul II. Today, Elizabeth Galanti, Dr. Gerry, and Dr. Peter look at what the CCC has to say about parts work, human formation, divided hearts, healthy multiplicity vs. inner fragmentation, self-knowledge, self-governance, self-love, inner unity, sexual sins, the body, and hope. And all of this in our effort to ground Internal Family Systems and other parts and systems approaches in an authentically Catholic understanding of the human person, informed by the Catechism. Why? So you can flourish.

For the full video experience with all our visuals, gestures, and graphics, and for conversation and sharing in the comments section, check us out on our YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/@InteriorIntegration4Catholics

Our new podcast Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts podcast A daily podcast where we bring Jesus' ministry inside, to all parts of us. Just as Jesus reaches out to the outcasts of society, we reach out to your inner outcasts-- the parts of you that feel unworthy or unlovable. Join us in seeing Scripture through a new lens, coming alive for those parts of you that may have experienced spiritual neglect and need healing. Check out Scripture for Your Inner Outcasts wherever you listen to podcasts.

“Man is divided within himself.” So says the Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes. Sins – original sin, the sins of others, and your own personal sins lead to your inner fragmentation and the obscuring of your conscience. What is your conscience? Where is your conscience within you? What does Vatican II say about IFS concepts? How did St. Maximilian Kolbe live sacrificial love in Auschwitz with interior integration, inner unity? And what does Vatican II say about psychology and the social sciences? Dr. Gerry Crete joins me for a wide-ranging discussion of these questions and so much more.