Joseph L. Grabau

Dr. Joseph Grabau serves the University of the Incarnate Word as an Affiliate Faculty Member. He is dean of the Mexican American Catholic College in San Antonio, Texas, where he has been a member of the full-time faculty since 2020. Founded in 1972 as a cultural center following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and subsequent conference of Latin American bishops at Medellín (1968), MACC has long served as a national leadership institute, center for Hispanic Ministry, and convening partner of diocesan outreach, collaborative theological education, and immersive formation experiences. Since 2011, MACC and UIW’s Pastoral Institute have offered the collaborative Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Ministry. The collaborative Master of Arts program was added in 2017. This arrangement allows students to take their major core in Pastoral Ministry at the Mexican American Catholic College, while completing general studies and capstone requirements at the University of the Incarnate Word. For accreditation purposes, MACC is recognized and approved by the SACSCOC as an off-campus instructional site for the University.

As an academic leader, Dr. Grabau advances the school’s historic mission of service to a diverse church and world through curriculum and policy development, student success initiatives, and course scheduling for seven undergraduate certificates (18-54 credit hours) in Philosophy, Theology, and Pastoral Ministry. In addition, Dr. Grabau is responsible for faculty development, assessment planning, institutional research, and promoting a spirit of disciplined collaboration with colleagues. Dedicated to honoring the culture of encounter and pastoral accompaniment at MACC, Dr. Grabau partners with local formators, program directors, members of the faculty and student population, as well as senior colleagues to advocate and implement a plan for quality assurance in theological education and ministerial formation that valorizes the distinctive culture and student experience at MACC.

As a scholar, Dr. Grabau is the author of numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and scholarly reference entries on Augustine of Hippo, Catholic biblical interpretation, and patristic spirituality. In the classroom, Dr. Grabau has over a decade of experience working with seminarians, candidates for the permanent diaconate, and laity representing diverse confessional backgrounds. In addition to core theological and philosophical courses required by the Ratio Fundamentalis (2016), Dr. Grabau has developed courses in practical and contextual theology—including children’s spirituality, rural ministry, homiletics, and trauma-informed pastoral care. In one of his most popular courses at MACC and the UIW Pastoral Institute, students receive a basic orientation to the Catholic intellectual tradition through readings of St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994). Prior to joining the faculty at the Mexican American Catholic College, Dr. Grabau taught Ecclesiastical Latin and conducted research in the field of Latin Patristics at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies in Leuven.

Dr. Grabau holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) awarded by the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), where he later completed post-doctoral work in Augustinian and patristic studies. Dr. Grabau also obtained a Ph.D. in Historical Theology, Licentiate in Sacred Theology, and Advanced Master of Arts in Theology and Religion at Leuven. His other credentials include a Master of Arts in Historical Theology from Villanova University; a Master of Arts in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America; and a Master of Arts in Classics from the University of Kentucky.

With his wife and three sons, Dr. Grabau is a member of Saint Matthew Catholic Church in San Antonio.

• University of Louvain- Ph.D., S.T.D. Theology (Christianity in Late Antiquity), 2019; M.A. Theology, 2015
• Villanova University- M.A. Historical Theology, 2014
• University of Kentucky- M.A. Classics, 2012; B.A. (Hons.) Classics & Philosophy, 2006
• The Catholic University of America- M.A. Philosophy, 2009

• Mexican American Catholic College
  • Academic Dean, February 2025–present
  • Associate of Philosophy and Theology, 2021–present
  • Assistant Professor, 2020–2021

• University of the Incarnate Word, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
  • Affiliate Faculty, Pastoral Institute, 2020–present
  • Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Fall 2020

• Oblate School of Theology
  • Visiting Faculty, Spring 2024

• Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary
  • Visiting Faculty, Fall 2023

• University of Louvain
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, History of Church and Theology, 2019–2020
  • Junior Academic Staff, 2015–2019

“Historical-Phenomenological Experiences of Negative Theology in Christos Yannaras and the Corpus Areopagiticum.” St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 67, no. 3–4 (2023): 199–221.

“Methodological Approaches for Comparative Theological Research on Augustine and the Gospel of John.” Cuestiones Teológicas 49, no. 112 (2022): 1–17.

“The Limits of Grief in Augustine’s ss. 172–73 & s. 396.” Vox Patrum 78 (2021): 293–310.

“John 4:23–24 in North African Preaching.” Scrinium 13 (2017): 136–53.

“Uso devocional de las Confesiones de San Agustín: Evidencia manuscrita de la Inglaterra medieval.” La Ciudad de Dios 229, no. 2 (2016): 389–411.

• Philosophy in the Catholic Tradition
• Ancient Philosophy
• Philosophy of Nature and Being
• Natural Theology (Philosophy of Religion)
• Roman Philosophy
• Theology of the Creed
• Sacramental Theology
• Jesus Christ: God and Man
• Ecclesiology
• Children’s Spirituality and Practical Theology
•  Rural Ministry Practicum
• Pastoral Studies on Grief and Trauma