Father Fessio in Five
Join Father Fessio every Friday for his profound insights on a wide variety of interesting subjects and be inspired by the thoughts of a great Jesuit. These episodes provide a rare glimpse into the mind of our beloved founder and are an easy and meaningful way to deepen your spiritual and intellectual life!
Join Father Fessio every Friday for his profound insights on a wide variety of interesting subjects and be inspired by the thoughts of a great Jesuit. These episodes provide a rare glimpse into the mind of our beloved founder and are an easy and meaningful way to deepen your spiritual and intellectual life!
Episodes
Aug 1, 2025
115: Finding God in the Mystery
Aug 1, 2025
Aug 1, 2025
5 min
We can often go through out day not noticing the presence of God in our lives. But in today’s episode Fr. Fessio teaches us how to notice God in the mysteries of the universe.
Aug 1, 2025
5 min

Jul 25, 2025
114: Explaining the Simplicity of God
Jul 25, 2025
Jul 25, 2025
4 min
Fr. Fessio explains one of the fruits of his morning reflection on the simplicity of God. Father’s analogies are very helpful for understanding how an omniscient and omnipotent God can also be simple.
Jul 25, 2025
4 min

Jul 18, 2025
Jul 18, 2025
4 min
Jesus said that no person of woman born is greater than John the Baptist. In today’s episode, Fr. Fessio explains this statement and provides a beautiful insight into spiritual excellence.
Jul 18, 2025
4 min

Jul 11, 2025
112: The Wisdom of St. Gregory of Nyssa
Jul 11, 2025
Jul 11, 2025
4 min
Fr. Fessio comments on a simple yet profound reading from St. Gregory of Nyssa presented in the Divine Office.
Jul 11, 2025
4 min

Jul 4, 2025
Jul 4, 2025
4 min
Fr. Fessio explains why it is often difficult to pray to the Holy Spirit and then provides an analogy to help us grow in our love and appreciation for the Holy Spirit.
Jul 4, 2025
4 min

Jun 27, 2025
110: Fr. Fessio’s Favorite Bible Verses
Jun 27, 2025
Jun 27, 2025
3 min
We all have our favorite Bible verses and in this episode Fr. Fessio elaborates on two verses that resonate with him.
Jun 27, 2025
3 min

Jun 20, 2025
Jun 20, 2025
10 min
The final step of making A.I. requires giving the system certain questions we know the answer to and some questions we do not know the answer to and then checking their answers against reality. Fr. Fessio explains how A.I. ultimately depends entirely on humans and thereby cannot self-replicate.
Jun 20, 2025
10 min

Jun 13, 2025
108: Post-Training—The Third Step of Making A.I.
Jun 13, 2025
Jun 13, 2025
12 min
Father Fessio explains how A.I. is not conscious but can be used to autocomplete and predict certain answers. Then through a process of post-training, certain experts are brought in to ask A.I. a series of questions to verify the answers and tweak the algorithms so that the right answers are provided.
Jun 13, 2025
12 min

Jun 6, 2025
107: Training—The Second Step of Making A.I.
Jun 6, 2025
Jun 6, 2025
10 min
Father Fessio proceeds to explain the process by which A.I. “learns.” He highlights the difference between the human process of learning and computer’s statistical pattern recognition process.
Jun 6, 2025
10 min

May 30, 2025
106: Pretraining—The First Step of Making A.I.
May 30, 2025
May 30, 2025
7 min
Our recently elected Pope Leo XIV has already made several comments about the dangers of artificial intelligence. So if you want to learn more about A.I., join Fr. Fessio explains the first of four steps of artificial intelligence—pretraining—which requires data to be collected and tokenization.
May 30, 2025
7 min

May 23, 2025
105: Computers Do NOT Know ANYTHING
May 23, 2025
May 23, 2025
8 min
Continuing with his connected thoughts on artificial intelligence, Fr. Fessio explains how a computer that stores A.I. is like a library that knows nothing.
May 23, 2025
8 min

May 16, 2025
104: Making Artificial Intelligence Simple
May 16, 2025
May 16, 2025
8 min
Want to know more about AI? Then join Fr. Fessio as he begins a series of episodes on artificial intelligence. Today, Father discusses how AI is dependent on a computer.
May 16, 2025
8 min

May 9, 2025
103: What is “Opus Dei”?
May 9, 2025
May 9, 2025
3 min
The famous Latin expression “Opus Dei” has connections to several orders. Fr. Fessio explains these associations and the Latin meaning behind it.
May 9, 2025
3 min

May 2, 2025
102: How Does God Dwell in Us?
May 2, 2025
May 2, 2025
3 min
Fr. Fessio explains St. Augustine’s famous words describing how God is more deeply in us than we are to ourselves.
May 2, 2025
3 min

Apr 25, 2025
101: Life is Like a Greek Race
Apr 25, 2025
Apr 25, 2025
3 min
In Hebrews 12, St. Paul talks about running a race sounded by a cloud of witnesses with Christ as our model. Father Fessio beautifully explains this metaphor by pointing out details that only the Greek words reveal.
Apr 25, 2025
3 min

Apr 18, 2025
100: Unpacking St. Ignatius’ Suscipe Prayer
Apr 18, 2025
Apr 18, 2025
4 min
In this special 100th episode of Father Fessio in Five, Father explains part of St. Ignatius’ Suscipe prayer where we ask the Lord to “Take our memory, intellect, and all my will.” This episode will help you pray this beautiful prayer more deeply!
Apr 18, 2025
4 min

Apr 11, 2025
99: A Jesuit Speaks About Gender
Apr 11, 2025
Apr 11, 2025
3 min
Fr. Fessio talks about gender and claims that there are three genders?! But listen closely . . . he’s not saying what you may think . . .
Apr 11, 2025
3 min

Apr 4, 2025
98: Did Jesus Have Faith?
Apr 4, 2025
Apr 4, 2025
4 min
It seems like Jesus would not have faith because he is God. But Father Fessio reflections on Hebrews 12:1–4 where Jesus is said to be a “pioneer and perfector of our faith.”
Apr 4, 2025
4 min

Mar 28, 2025
97: What is Our “Daily Bread”?
Mar 28, 2025
Mar 28, 2025
2 min
When we ask God to give us our “daily bread,” are we asking God simply for enough food to eat each day? Father Fessio explains. . .
Mar 28, 2025
2 min

Mar 21, 2025
96: Forgive Our "Debts" or "Trespasses"?
Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
3 min
Binge Father Fessio in Five! You may have noticed a flurry of episodes in the past day and that is because we are bringing Father Fessio in Five to YouTube. We updated our equipment so that you can now watch Fr. Fessio on YouTube as well as listen to him here on the audio apps.
In this episode, we pray the Our Father every day, but do we always fully understand, and what we are saying? Father Fessio breaks down two phrases in the Our Father so that you can pray it more intentionally and fervently.
Mar 21, 2025
3 min

Mar 21, 2025
95: Inspiration of Scripture
Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
3 min
Fr. Fessio explains how the Catholic understanding of “inspired writings” is very different than that of Islam or Mormonism.
Mar 21, 2025
3 min

Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
4 min
Fr. Fessio reads a passage from Miracles by C.S. Lewis to explain the proper use of the historical critical method.
Mar 21, 2025
4 min

Mar 21, 2025
93: The Historical Critical Method
Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
6 min
How can the historical critical method enhance our understanding of Scripture without detracting from it? Find out in this episode!
Mar 21, 2025
6 min

Mar 21, 2025
92: God With Us
Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
6 min
In this two-part episode, Father Fessio examines the yearning of Isaiah to see the face of God.
Mar 21, 2025
6 min

Mar 21, 2025
91: The Great Mystery
Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
5 min
Father Fessio reflects on great mystery which according to St. Paul is “Christ in us” and the hope of glory.
Mar 21, 2025
5 min

Mar 21, 2025
90: Lead Us Not Into Temptation
Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
5 min
Why do we ask God to “lead us not into temptation” in the Our Father? Father Fessio explains that this statement has its roots in the Old Testament and that “temptation” actually refers to a place. . .
Mar 21, 2025
5 min

Mar 21, 2025
89: From Faith to Agape
Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
6 min
Looking at the Greek words, Father Fessio explains the progression of thoughts in 2 Peter 1:5–7 where St. Peter says that we should make every effort “to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly love, and finally brotherly love with love.”
Mar 21, 2025
6 min

Mar 21, 2025
88: Why Reread Things?
Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
3 min
Father Fessio highlights why it is so important for us to reread profound, perennial, and permanent things, most especially the Scriptures.
Mar 21, 2025
3 min

Mar 21, 2025
87: Imperfect Offerings
Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
4 min
When we go to Mass, we offer our whole selves to God, even our weaknesses and faults. Father Fessio reflects on the beauty of the Mass and highlights the many places where we ask God for His mercy.
Mar 21, 2025
4 min

Mar 21, 2025
86: Creating a Network of Reliable Information
Mar 21, 2025
Mar 21, 2025
3 min
There is a lot of unreliable information in this day and age. To combat this problem, Father encourages us to form your own NRI (Network of Reliable Information).
Mar 21, 2025
3 min







