Brother from Another Father - Hosted by Fr Isaac El Fernandes, SJ
This podcast offers thoughtful reflections on the Sunday readings of the Catholic Church, exploring faith, scripture, and everyday spirituality in a fresh, engaging way. Hosted by Father Isaac El Fernandes SJ, it dives deeper into the challenges of modern life through the lens of Catholic teachings, providing listeners with both spiritual guidance and relatable insights.
Episodes
53 episodes
Ep 53 - Squeezing Through the Narrow Door
n this episode, Father Isaac explores the paradox of Jesus’ teaching: everyone is welcome in the Kingdom of God, yet the gate is narrow. Drawing from school memories of “elite clubs,” the Babylonian exile, and the Pharisees’ misplaced confidenc...
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Season 1
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Episode 53
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10:17
Ep 52 - Running With the Cloud of Witnesses
In this episode, Father Isaac reflects on the Christian life through the lens of the Boston Marathon. While the fleet-footed front-runners impress, it’s the stragglers — battling pain with grit and fueled by the cheers of the crowd — who reveal...
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Season 1
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Episode 52
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9:25
Ep 51 - When God Comes Like a Thief
This week, Father Isaac unpacks Jesus’ surprising parable where God is both a master and a thief. By exploring Israel’s history, their longing for national vindication, and the radical way Jesus redrew the boundaries of God’s people, we discove...
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Season 1
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Episode 51
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13:57
Ep 50 - The Diamond You Can’t Lose
A wandering hermit’s mysterious diamond sets the stage for a profound meditation on freedom, detachment, and what truly secures us in life. In this 50th episode, we explore Jesus’ parable of the rich fool and the warning not to store up treasur...
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Season 1
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Episode 50
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9:23
Ep 49 - Daily Bread and Bobby’s Red Bike: Learning How to Ask
In this humorous and heartfelt episode, Fr. Isaac explores the meaning of true prayer through the story of young Bobby, whose creative attempts to get a red bike for his First Holy Communion teach us something about persistence, but also manipu...
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Season 1
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Episode 49
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15:05
Ep 48 - Choosing What Matters: Between Busyness and Being
What happens when Jesus knocks on your door, but you’re too busy in the kitchen to notice?This episode explores the timeless Gospel story of Martha and Mary through the lens of fridge magnets, hospitality stress, and the heresy of ac...
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Season 1
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Episode 48
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11:14
EP 47 - Clean Your Windows: Seeing with Compassion
Sometimes the problem isn't with what we're looking at—it’s with the lens we’re looking through. In this week’s episode, Fr Isaac unpacks the Parable of the Good Samaritan through a surprising story about laundry and dirty win...
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Season 1
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Episode 47
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9:50
Ep 46 - The Church Is Not a Spectator Sport
On this 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Fr. Isaac delivers a bold wake-up call to all baptized Christians: the mission field is not inside the church - it’s out in the world, and you are the team. Reflecting on Jesus sending his disciple...
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7:51
Ep 45 - God-Given vs Socially Made: Finding the Real You
We all live between two identities—the one God gives us and the one society expects from us. In this special Feast of Saints Peter and Paul episode, Fr. Isaac reflects on how these two pillars of the Church wrestled with that same tension. From...
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Season 1
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Episode 45
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12:34
Ep 44 - Don’t Call It the Lord’s Supper If You’re Not Sharing
The Feast of Corpus Christi invites us to remember that the Eucharist is more than a ritual—it’s a call to radical communion. In this episode, Fr. Isaac takes us back to the early Church, where some communities failed to live the very unity the...
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12:31
Ep 43 - No Room for Wookies in the Trinity
This Trinity Sunday, Fr. Isaac takes us on a cosmic ride through theology and sci-fi, asking: if aliens existed, would God need to save them too? With wit and depth, he explores why Christian belief holds that God went all in on humani...
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Season 1
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Episode 43
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7:58
Ep 42 - African, Catholic, One Church: The Spirit Makes It Possible
On this Pentecost Sunday, Brother from Another Father reflects on how the Holy Spirit builds a Church that is both fully African and fully Catholic. From the ruins of Babel to the miracle of Pentecost, Fr. Isaac shows how God do...
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Season 1
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Episode 42
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11:23
EP 41 - Suit Up: The Spirit is Your Superpower
What do Spider-Man and the Feast of the Ascension have in common? In this imaginative homily, we explore how the early Church moved from waiting for a sequel to becoming the sequel—empowered by the Holy Spirit. Just as kids throw on su...
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Season 1
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Episode 41
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5:52
EP 40 - Don’t Force Your Happily Ever After
What if letting go is the beginning of true peace? In this episode, we explore the tension between surrendering control and clinging to our version of a “happy ending.” Drawing from a modern love story and the hard-won wisdom of the apostles, F...
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Season 1
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Episode 40
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8:11
EP 39 - Give More Than You Get – That’s the Gospel
In this episode of Brother from Another Father, we unpack Jesus’ command to “love one another as I have loved you” — a love that gives more than it receives. Fr Isaac explores the idea of asymmetrical love through brain science, childh...
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Season 1
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Episode 39
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8:21
Ep 38 - Let Go of the Motor, Raise the Sail
In this Good Shepherd Sunday reflection, Fr. Isaac invites us to surrender control and embrace trust. Using the powerful metaphor of a boat, he challenges us to toss out the motor of self-reliance and let the wind of the Holy Spirit guide us. A...
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Season 1
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Episode 38
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5:31
Ep 37 - When Going Back Feels Easier Than Going Forward
Fr. Isaac reflects on Peter's return to fishing after the Resurrection—a symbolic backslide to his old life. Despite Peter’s sense of failure and inadequacy, Jesus meets him again at dawn, reigniting the call to become a fisher of people. The h...
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Season 1
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Episode 37
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9:02
Ep 36 - What If Confession Was Never Meant to Be Private?
In this special Divine Mercy Sunday episode, Fr Isaac explores the surprising history of the Sacrament of Reconciliation—revealing that private confession wasn’t always the norm. From public penance in the early Church to Pope Francis' call for...
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Season 1
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Episode 36
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11:43
Ep 35 - The Generous Get Burnt… or Do They?
This Easter Sunday, we confront the age-old fear that being generous, forgiving, or kind is a one-way ticket to getting walked over. Drawing from a Shona proverb—“The generous one is the one whose house gets burnt”—this episode asks wh...
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8:47
Ep 34 - When God Doesn’t Send the Bill
On this Good Friday, Fr. Isaac challenges a popular story often used to explain the cross—one of a tragic train bridge and a sacrificed son—and offers a deeper, more faithful reflection on Christ’s Passion. Jesus doesn’t save us by taking our s...
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14:11
Ep 33 - When Jesus Fails Our Expectations
On Palm Sunday, we explore what it really means to follow Jesus—not by inviting Him into our lives, but by letting ourselves be drawn into His. As the crowd turns from praise to rejection, Fr. Isaac challenges us to confront our own expectation...
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Season 1
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Episode 33
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10:03
Ep 32 - The Stones We Carry: Adultery, Identity, and the Scapegoat Within
In this powerful Lent reflection, Fr. Isaac explores the story of the woman caught in adultery through the lens of psychology, Ignatian spirituality, and Girardian theory. Why do we desire what we shouldn’t? Why do we judge so quickly? This epi...
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Season 1
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Episode 32
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15:37
EP 31 - The Power of Embrace: What the Prodigal Story Really Teaches Us
In this episode of Brother from Another Father, we explore the well-known parable of the Prodigal Son—but with a fresh perspective. Rather than focusing on the wayward son, we turn our attention to the father, whose radical generosity ...
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Season 1
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Episode 31
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13:29
Ep 30 - Taking Off Our Shoes: Suffering, Technology, and Trust in God
In this episode, we reflect on Luke 13 and the questions we all face when confronted with suffering, violence, and evil. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God allow this? Jesus doesn’t offer easy answers but invites us to a deep...
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Season 1
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Episode 30
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8:10
EP 29 - A Risk Worth Taking: Abraham’s Faith and Our Response
In this episode of Brother from Another Father, we reflect on the meaning of faith through the story of Abraham’s decision to trust in God. What does it truly mean to have faith? More than just belief and obedience, faith is also a ris...
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Season 1
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Episode 29
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9:01