Kresta in the Afternoon

On bad days, it’s easy for us to start believing in the lies of the world that inhibit our path to Holiness. Al shares some thoughts, and then examines what Joseph Ratzinger wrote about death and All Souls Day.

As Catholics, we are all called to be saints. We can choose to live a life of sanctity, aiming for perfect conformity with Christ – or we can aim for the opposite. What does a life lived in this matter look like? On this All Saints Day, Al shares some thoughts.

What happens when we have the courage to collaborate with God and pursue our truest self? The result is a life and light that keeps shining long after our mission on earth is complete, and we see it through the lives of the saints. We look at how the Saints have responded to this call with Matthew Kelly.

It’s easy to look at the saints as paragons of virtue and holiness, and forget that they were real people who faced real struggle, temptation, and doubt. Fr. Thomas Dubay wrote extensively on the saints as examples of everyday holiness. We look back on a conversation with him today.

How does a better understanding of Catholicism enhance our understanding of the modern world? Beginning with the French Revolution, John McGreevy helps us understand the path the Church has taken over the last two centuries and the complex role the Church has played as both a shaper and follower in global politics. By understanding our history, we may better understand how to approach the challeng...

In his essay “Philosophy of Composition,” Edgar Allan Poe writes that “the death of a beautiful woman is the most poetical topic in the world.” Just a year after he penned these words, his young wife died of tuberculosis. While there is no evidence Poe ever considered converting to the Catholic faith, one can still find Catholic influences on his writings – especially when it comes to suffering. W...

The Spanish Inquisition is among the most misunderstood events in Medieval history, and many people simply associate it with the Monty Python sketch – “nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!” Well, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition to show wise restraint in dealing with witchcraft—unless somebody has heard of Alonso de Salazar Frías, ‘The Witches’ Advocate.” Sandra Miesel joins us with his s...

Today many Protestant churches celebrate, or at least observe, Reformation Day. Catholics certainly don’t celebrate it – so how should we feel? Would the Leaders of the Reformation think it was a success? Al has some thoughts.

The Church simply cannot reach its full apostolic effectiveness unless each of the baptized effectively discerns his or her personal vocation. And that vocation goes far beyond just discerning if we are called to single, married or ordained life. How do we go about doing this? We talk with Fr. Brent Bowen.

George Orwell once observed that “At any given moment there is an orthodoxy, a body of ideas of which it is assumed that all right-thinking people will accept without question.” What does this “orthodoxy” look like today? What so-called truths are we all supposed to accept? Al discusses.

A recent law change in Berlin will allow women to swim topless at public pools, just as men do. The media celebrated this as some great victory for women's equality. What lessons can we learn from that about the state of our society? Al discusses.

Early in Mark’s Gospel Jesus calls us to repent – or, in the Greek, Metanoia. But the word “repent” doesn’t capture the full meaning of Metanoia – because it isn’t a one-time event. It’s an ongoing process that takes our entire lives to complete. We’ll talk about living Metanoia in our daily lives with Fr. Dave Pivonka

On Wednesday the Vatican issued a letter to the Church asking Catholics to take an active role in the “Discernment and decision making” of the Church. Matthew Bunson joins us with more.

On October 28 in the year 312, the forces of the Emperor Constantine won a battle at the Milvian Bridge over the forces of Maxentius. The night before, Constantine had a vision which led him to fight under the protection of the Christian god. We learn more about the events of the battle and Constantine’s vision with Thomas Madden.

On this day in 1998, President Clinton signed the International Religious Freedom Act, a bill that prioritized religious freedom in US Foreign policy. Dan Philpott join us with more and also looks at how Just War theory applies to the Israel war.

According to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll, a quarter of Americans – including 50% of those aged 18-24 – believe Hamas’ actions against Israel are morally justified. How could anyone come to this conclusion? Al discusses.

The Vatican II document Nostra aetate declares that “God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers. He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues.” What are these “gifts?” The most repeated Divine promise in the Hebrew Scriptures is God’s gift of the Land of Canaan to the People of Israel. Andre Villeneuve joins us to discuss it more fully.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, the Pharisees asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest. But He does not name any of the 10 Commandments; rather, he names the great commandments of love. Peggy Stanton joins us.

In the weeks since the Hamas attack on Israel, many mainstream newsrooms have struggled with how to refer to the attackers. Are they terrorists or militants? An underlying problem is that many in the legacy media see the Israeli/Palestinian conflict as simply a political story. But at heart it is a religion story, concerning sacred sites in the Holy Land. Terry Mattingly has more.

It seems obvious that any Christian should be against anti-Semitism, but that isn’t always the case. A conference this week at Franciscan University which attacks anti-Semitism was planned long before the Hamas attack, but now seems more timely than ever. Al discusses.

Few authors are more distinctly American than Mark Twain. And Twain was a complicated man whose views on politics, religion and other issues are often misunderstood, even to this day. We examine how religion is portrayed in his works with Joseph Csicsila.

It’s been a violent month in the Middle East and it looks like things are only going to get worse. But there is some good news. Dore Gold, a former UN representative for Israel, says that Saudi Arabia – once a major sponsor of terrorism – is not giving a dime to any terrorist organization. Al discusses.

Israeli military commanders have warned Palestinians living in Gaza to evacuate to the South, as Israel prepares to destroy rockets, communications gear and other military targets in the north. But Hamas leaders have demanded the people stay there - because their very strategy depends on higher civilian death counts. Douglas Feith joins us with more.

Discussions about the environment tend to follow a pattern: we agree that we should protect the environment, but we aren't sure how to do it; competing narratives about the severity of the situation make it hard to decide what action is prudent; and anyone who questions the mainstream positions is accused of being an irresponsible science-denier. None of this is conducive to forming actual pol...

Vatican II is one of the most significant events in modern Church history and has been studied endlessly over the last 60+ years. Is there anything left to say about it? George Weigel thinks so – by reexamining the event through the prism of Pope John XXIII’s original intentions for the council. He joins us.