Kresta in the Afternoon

The Epistle of James has long been a reminder that the Tree of Life—Christ’s Cross and Gospel—was planted in rich, Jewish soil.  Shane Kapler gives us a look at the epistle through the eyes of its first-century Jewish-Christian readers, unpacking its lavish content and showing how this inspired text has yielded, century after century, abundant fruit for the Church.

Holy Week is nigh and are preparing to commemorate our Lord’s passion and sacrifice for us. Those who have seen Mel Gibson’s film know just how horrific Christ’s final hours were. Dr Tom McGovern joins us once again with a further discussion on what Christ suffered, while also offering rich spiritual insights to help you walk along with our Lord as we prepare to celebrate the Triduum.

Is Easter just a rip-off of the pagan goddess Ishtar? Why do the Gospels seem to disagree on how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on his Triumphal entry? And whatever happened to Barabbas? These are the kinds of questions you may encounter in the coming days. Jimmy Akin has the answers.

Palm Sunday is upon us, and this is an ideal time for watching films that help us draw closer to our Lord. The first movie we always think of is the Passion, but that may not be the best for families. What other films are good to watch this week? Steven Greydanus joins us.

On Thursday we will commemorate the Last Supper and the Institution of the Eucharist. Tom Nash takes a look at the Biblical roots of the Mass and what the early Church fathers said about the Eucharist.

Why do we say to people who doubt that Jesus rose from the Dead, or who doubt that the resurrection involved his actual body? Many answers can be found in the writings of St Paul. We discuss it with William Albrecht.

We’ll hear the story of Our Lord’s Passion in this Sunday’s Gospel and throughout next week. From the four Gospel accounts of the Crucifixion, Christians have collected the seven last “words” of Christ. We reflect on them with Dr. Kevin Vost.

The Napalm Girl is one of the most iconic and chilling photographs ever taken. It shows a young girl shrieking in fear and pain, arms outstretched, a dark cloud of napalm billowing in the background. That girl, Kim Phuc, survived the blast and all these years later can say that the bombs led her to Christ. She joins us.

What is the role of beauty in drawing us to God? How important is it to have excellence in how church buildings are built and designed? Dan Rigali’s family has a proud tradition of designing churches to be beautiful and holy places. He joins us.

We've all been wronged by people we love, and by people we are less than fond of. Have you ever been mad at a person and told you need to "just forgive them?" Forgiveness can certainly release us from pain, but that doesn't mean it's easy. And when it comes to the biggest hurts in life, it can seem impossible. We discuss the challenge, and the promise, of forgiveness with Fr. Thomas Berg.

For centuries Christians have wondered why God allows suffering and how they should respond to suffering in their own lives. The answer can be found by looking closely at Christ's Passion. As we prepare for Holy Week, Gary Jansen takes us on a step-by-step tour of the Way of the Cross. By pondering on Jesus' response to his own suffering, we are challenged to react similarly in our lives. Gary joi...

We tend to think of the Enlightenment in a negative light – a time when the Church in France was violently dethroned in the name of “Reason.” But it also ushered in a wave of genuine Christian inspiration. We’ll talk with Joseph Stuart about the three strategies Christians employed during the Enlightenment and how they can be employed in our own anti-Christian age.

Cancer touches all of us in some way. It’s a devastating diagnosis, but that doesn't mean hope is lost. Ron Avery joins us with daily inspirations for anyone who faces cancer.

Sarah Williams had a successful career, a happy marriage and two loving daughters. Her family was overjoyed when they learned another baby was on the way. But they soon received a tragic diagnosis: their daughter had a lethal skeletal disorder and birth would be fatal. Her doctors and colleagues recommended she terminate the pregnancy. But during those nine months Sarah discovered new things about...

The photo of Phan Kim Phuc, better known as the Napalm Girl, has become an iconic image of the Vietnam War. Since that horrible day, she has forgiven her attackers, stating that forgiveness cleansed her and freed her from hatred. Al looks at this and other striking examples of forgiveness.

Despite signs of a crisis in the Church, there are many great things going on. Lay Catholics are expressing new interests in intense forms of prayer and the spiritual life, including contemplative prayer. Fr Donald Haggerty has developed a blueprint for this type of prayer life and he joins us.

As Catholics, we are called to find more effective ways to bring Christ to the world. How can we do that in a way that focuses on nourishing the seeds of faith rather than lamenting why the land is barren? Can we find the answer in positive psychology? We’ll talk about it with Dr. Greg Popcak.

In an interview published last week in a German magazine, Cardinal Marx was asked about how LGBTQ people could be accommodated in Catholic teaching. In his response, he mentioned that The Catechism is not set in stone. One may also doubt what it says.” Is he right? We talk with Matthew Bunson, who also reports on Pope Francis’ trip to Malta.

Have you ever been told that the Catholic Church is “obsessed” with Sex? That the Church could help the world more if it focused less on people’s personal sexual preferences and more on issues such as promoting peace or combatting poverty? Well, it’s not the Church that is preoccupied with sex – it’s the world. Al discusses this issue through the lens of recent comments by the German bishops.

Joseph Haydn is among the most influential composers of the Classical period. He was a friend of Mozart and tutor of Beethoven, and has been called the Father of the Symphony. He was also a man of devout Catholic faith. Yesterday was the anniversary of his birth in 1732, and we look at his life and music with Robert Reilly.

We're excited to announce another edition of our Good News Cruise. Join Al and Sally, Teresa Tomeo, Archbishop Sam Aquila, and many others - including Steve Ray - for a week of fun and enrichment on the Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas. Steve joins us.

What is the influence of Classical Liberalism in the world today? One thing we know is that it does not have the influence it did as recently as the 1990s. What has changed? Sam Gregg joins us.

Yesterday President Biden announced the daily release of 1 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves to help combat gasoline prices. At a press conference, he placed the blame on US oil companies who were recording record profits. What’s the real cause? Katie Tubb joins us.

NATO estimates that the Russian military has suffered up to 40,000 casualties, with more than 7,000 deaths, since the invasion of Ukraine began. Does this give reason to hope the war could end soon? Not so fast, says Paul Kengor – Russia has been here before. Paul joins us.

If your parents are divorced or have split up, you’re not alone. While family breakdown can impact a child’s life in several noticeable ways - such as being more likely to grow up in poverty, more likely to drop out of school, and more likely to experience emotional or behavioral problems - it’s harder to see the invisible wounds that can last into adulthood. That’s where Life-Giving Wounds comes...