Father Fessio in Five (by Ignatius Press)
Five-minute Catholic wisdom—or in Latin, “disjecta membra”—from Ignatius Press’ founder, editor, and priest, Father Joseph Fessio, S.J., Ph.D., a student of Joseph Ratzinger and Henri de Lubac, a winemaker, a baker, and, at times, ”the most powerful man in the American Church.”
Episodes
7 days ago
49: OUR Father—Not Just "My" Father
7 days ago
7 days ago
"We," "us," is distinctly, uniquely Christian.
Monday Apr 08, 2024
48: Punishment and Mercy
Monday Apr 08, 2024
Monday Apr 08, 2024
The Old Testament can seem brutal at times. Is God really love? King David gives us the key.
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
47: Fear and Faith
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
"Daughter, your faith has made you well."
Monday Mar 11, 2024
46: Can We Help Jesus to Rejoice? (Colossians Up Close, pt. 9)
Monday Mar 11, 2024
Monday Mar 11, 2024
"In my flesh," St. Paul says, "I complete what is lacking in Christ's" . . . joy?
Monday Mar 04, 2024
45: Who Is Speaking in the Psalms—God, David, or Israel?
Monday Mar 04, 2024
Monday Mar 04, 2024
The answer is YES. And that's how it is supposed to be.
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
44: Roots, Roots, Roots (Colossians Up Close, pt. 8)
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Tuesday Feb 20, 2024
Without roots, trees collapse, and plants blow around like tumbleweeds. Jesus wants our roots to be in him.
Monday Feb 12, 2024
43: We Are Far Closer Together Than We Know (Colossians Up Close, pt. 7)
Monday Feb 12, 2024
Monday Feb 12, 2024
Our lives are more intertwined than we can ever realize on earth. Yet how much more is CHRIST'S life—and his suffering—linked to ours.
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
42: Knowledge vs. Wisdom . . . and Where the Twain Meet (Colossians Up Close, pt. 6)
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
Wednesday Feb 07, 2024
According to Paul, you can't know anything, much less apply that knowledge, without Jesus.
Wednesday Jan 31, 2024
41: Do You Really Know What "Mystery" Means? (Colossians Up Close, pt. 5)
Wednesday Jan 31, 2024
Wednesday Jan 31, 2024
Christ lives within us. We think we know it, but a thousand lifetimes are not enough to grasp it.
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
40: Was Jesus Thirty-Three—or Much, Much, Much Older? (Colossians Up Close, pt.4)
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
Wednesday Jan 24, 2024
You'd have to be pretty old to be "the firstborn of all creation."
Monday Jan 22, 2024
39: Saint Paul's Letter to ... Um... Who?
Monday Jan 22, 2024
Monday Jan 22, 2024
TITUS! Brush up on your Titus. It matters much more than you think.
Wednesday Jan 10, 2024
38: The Meaning of Perseverance (Colossians Up Close, pt. 3)
Wednesday Jan 10, 2024
Wednesday Jan 10, 2024
When you know God's will, no obstacle is insurmountable.
Friday Jan 05, 2024
Friday Jan 05, 2024
You're right—it would all be a waste, if not for aκτιος.
Friday Jan 05, 2024
36: An Antidote for Jealousy (Colossians Up Close, pt. 1)
Friday Jan 05, 2024
Friday Jan 05, 2024
Saint Paul CHEERS when he sees virtues in other people.
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
35: Theological Reflection: In Him, We Live and Move and Have Our Being
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
Tuesday Dec 26, 2023
God is "more intimate to me than I am to myself," says Augustine. God lives in the deepest part of our being—the Mariana Trench of us, even deeper than our very identity. But if that's true, then we are, even in our remotest corners, in the very heart of God himself. And becoming aware of this could change everything.
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
34: How God Calls Prophets
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Sometimes with a warm hand, sometimes with a hot coal.
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
33: How Would Jesus Treat a Slaveowner?
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
War is bad. Slavery is evil. But what happens when Jesus comes face to face with someone who's wrapped up in both?
Friday Dec 01, 2023
32: ”The Renewal of Your Minds”
Friday Dec 01, 2023
Friday Dec 01, 2023
Romans 12:1–2. God wants to make you NEW—not just your body, but your whole way of thinking and feeling.
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
31: The God of the Ordinary
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Like it or not, I'm back. (Rather, my producer is back—from paternity leave.) Are you "finding God"? Well, look no further. He is right in front of us.
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
30: Was Man Made for Cruise Ships, Gardening, and Golf?
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
Dreaming of that life of ease and leisure? Read the Gospel of Luke.
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
29: Woe to Us Scribes and Pharisees
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Tuesday Oct 24, 2023
Read Matthew 23 a little more carefully next you want to point the finger at "those" hypocrites.
Wednesday Oct 18, 2023
28: Ratzinger’s ”The Spirit of the Liturgy” in Three Minutes
Wednesday Oct 18, 2023
Wednesday Oct 18, 2023
We all know what happens at Mass: the Eucharist. But why does it matter? Pope Benedict has some ideas!
Monday Oct 09, 2023
27: How to Make Tough Things Beautiful
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Monday Oct 09, 2023
This year, a high-school girl made a glorious prom dress out of DUCT TAPE. Impossible? That's what we're called to do with the ugly, gray material of our lives. That is holiness.
Monday Oct 02, 2023
26: So Jesus Wants Me to Give Up EVERYTHING?
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Jesus tells strange parables. Would you really leave everything you have for a shiny hunk of calcium the size of a BB? No. But what if YOU are that shiny BB?
Friday Sep 22, 2023
25: The Butterfly Effect
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
The universe is full of tiny coincidences, but somehow, all of these work together to bring about God's greatest creation: human life itself.
Friday Sep 15, 2023
24: To Make Our Thoughts Pleasing to the Lord
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Learning to think with Psalm 103.
Friday Sep 08, 2023
23: Before the Big Bang Was, “I AM” (Entropy, pt. 2)
Friday Sep 08, 2023
Friday Sep 08, 2023
Today's theological vocabulary word: "prolepsis." How Adam and Eve's sin caused entropy BEFORE they were even created and, more importantly, how Jesus redeemed the whole universe BEFORE he was born.
Friday Sep 01, 2023
22: Why Do Things Fall Apart? (Entropy, pt. 1)
Friday Sep 01, 2023
Friday Sep 01, 2023
A big question: Why would God create death? Why do things fall apart? Is it because of the Fall, because of sin? Then what about the brontosaurus? Here's a first approach at making sense of what scientists call the law of entropy.
Thursday Aug 24, 2023
21: What Catholics Should Think about Psychology
Thursday Aug 24, 2023
Thursday Aug 24, 2023
How are all those self-help videos on Instagram working for you? Not great, you say? Don't worry. Mary's Magnificat shows us psychology done the right way—with God front and center.
Thursday Aug 17, 2023
20: PRAISE 101—What the Psalms teach us about happiness
Thursday Aug 17, 2023
Thursday Aug 17, 2023
Most of us have forgotten how to praise and, therefore, how to be happy. Let's change that right now. How? The Psalms.