Kresta in the Afternoon

Al follows up on our discussion with Dr. Mead, looking at the origins of the Western concept of an achieving individual.

There is a truth about Western culture, especially American culture that is often ignored: the US sees itself as an individualist society whose people seek to realize personal goals in the world, while most of the non-West has a more passive, deferential temperament. In other words, the West sees life as a project while many others are simply trying to survive rather than achieve. This serves as a massive obstacle for those trying to assimilate in America and will be a challenge to the country. Dr. Lawrence Mead joins us to examine these cultural differences.

What's it like to be a military chaplain? To travel to all corners of the world, instead of staying in one parish? To witness and serve to people who risk their lives every day? Fr. Daniel Mode is a priest in the Archdiocese of the Military. He joins us to share his experiences. We'll also look at the dramatic story of Fr. Vincent Capodanno, a priest who gave his life on a Vietnam battlefield.

Senator Tom Cotton has served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan – and also as part of The Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery, performing military funerals for hundreds of veterans and fallen comrades. He joins us with an inside look of the Army unit whose mission is to honor fallen heroes on the most hallowed ground in America.

This weekend we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Trinity. This mystery is nearly impossible for us to understand or explain without drifting into heresy, but we begin to unpack it with Michael Dauphinais.

The Marian dogmas are deeply rooted in Scripture, not just in the New Testament but in Jewish tradition as well. Andre Villeneuve joins us.

The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is considered the central mystery of Christian life. Marcus offers some thoughts.

Pope Francis has recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis, paving the way for him to become the first millennial saint. Matthew Bunson joins us with more on this and other Church news.

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Trinity. We unpack what the Catechism says about this mystery with Peggy Stanton.

In 1965, the Church published the document Dei Verbum – the Dogmatic Constitution on Scripture. Marcus reflects on what it has to teach us.

Bland sameness afflicts much of life today. Wherever one turns these days, it is hard to miss some institution proclaiming its commitment to diversity. Businesses, the military, churches, and, especially, universities all claim to be diverse places. But behind these identical claims to difference there is a rush towards sameness, a rush that is particularly acute at the university level. Terrence Sweeney joins us with more.

How much worse off we would all be without physical pain! As counterintuitive as it sounds, pain is your friend. Pain is a mechanism to warn you that something is wrong. Twenty years ago, it was pain that made Robert Kloska go see a doctor – who was able to catch his growing cancer before it was too late. Robert shares more on why he is grateful for pain.

The Second Vatican Council, in its document Gaudium et Spes, teaches us that only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light, that Christ fully reveals man to himself. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit were first realized in Christ’s own humanity, and then shared with us. We talk more with Tyler Pellegrin.

The United Kingdom’s Department of Education intends to prohibit the promotion of gender ideology within public schools, set age-based guidelines for sex education, and protect parental rights, according to proposed guidance for schools. Tyler Arnold has the story.

There are seven sacraments administered in the Catholic Church. What are they, and what do they do? Why do human beings require sacramentalized, visible realities to seal their confession of faith in Jesus Christ? Why does the Catholic Church administer the sacraments in the way that it does? Fr. Romanus Cessario joins us to unpack the mysteries of the sacraments.

While Catholics regularly gather for liturgical celebrations and for devotions such as the Rosary and Stations of the Cross, we also pray in all sorts of settings and for many reasons where we aren’t quite sure what to say. Justin McClain joins us with prayers for all occasions.

Joseph Pearce has spent decades studying both the public and private lives of JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. So he was surprised recently to discover an old letter by their friend that taught him something new about Tolkien. He joins us.

Yesterday we celebrated Pentecost - the Birthday of the Church. We discuss the power of the Holy Spirit with Peter Herbeck.

A recent article published by the AP claims the American Church is “taking a step back in time” as Generations of post-Vatican II Catholics are “giving way to religious conservatives.” We look at what the authors get right – and wrong – with Stephen White

Years of research continues to show us that more and more young people are leaving the Church as they enter adulthood, largely because they don’t like or trust “organized religion.” But a survey last year showed another disturbing trend – even among “affiliated” Catholic teenagers, nearly half say they have “little or no trust in organized religion.” Joel Stepanek joins us with more and also looks at the beginning of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimages.

Our culture is feeling the effects of men who have lost sight of their vocation as fathers. Deacon Joe Grote joins us with little daily reflections to help us understand the meaning of fatherhood and the role fathers play in our lives.

In an interview with “60 Minutes” airing this Sunday, Pope Francis takes aim at his “conservative critics” in the United States, reportedly saying a conservative is someone who “clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.” Shannon Mullen takes a look at this and other Church news.

A federal appeals court ruled this week that parents in Maryland have no right to be informed when their children are being instructed with LGBTQ materials or to opt their children out of that instruction.

We wrap up the Easter season this weekend with Pentecost Sunday. Peggy Stanton joins us for our weekly discussion to connect the Sunday Gospel reading with the Catechism.

Who would have ever thought a football player’s commencement speech at a small Catholic college would go viral? Yet that’s what’s happening with Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker after his speech at Benedictine College. We talk about it with Paul Kengor.

Over the past decade Rome has been marked with sharp, and often unwarranted, criticism of the Church in the United States and American Catholic life. But very few of the critics have taken the time to talk, systematically, with a wide range of U.S. Catholics to understand their concerns. Francis Maier has had those conversations. He joins us.

Once a year in Tanzania, on its world-forgotten islands, unvisited mountainsides, and in jungles and brush with man-eating animals, the Sisters of Mary enter some of the most dangerous villages in Africa to recruit their incoming class. Kevin Wells joins us with the story.

There is no greater trauma a parent can experience than the loss of a child. But for a variety of reasons, a father’s grief often fades into the background when his child dies. Patrick O’Hearn and his wife have lost two children to miscarriage. He’s joined other grieving dads to create a resource for anyone experiencing this deepest of pains. Patrick joins us.

The Jew-hatred on display at some campus protests corresponds little with attitudes toward Jews in America. How should Catholic leaders and institutions respond to this moment, beyond carefully worded statements that neither offend nor teach? One instructive precedent, perhaps surprisingly, is the medieval papal bull Sicut Judaeis, which condemned antisemitic violence and even authorized excommunication for certain offenses. We talk more about it with Simone Rizkallah.

Have you ever found yourself struggling to pray? Or even with wanting to pray? This “wanting to want to pray” is the first touch by God, because even desiring to desire can be an expression of love. David Fagerberg joins us with more.

At graduation ceremonies across the country this weekend, students staged walkouts in protest over the Israel-Hamas war. This included Duke University, whose keynote speaker Jerry Seinfeld has been a vocal supporter of Israel. We look at the roots of these protests with Paul Kengor.

What does it mean to be evangelical? What does it mean to be Catholic? Can one consider oneself both simultaneously? Francis Beckwith has wrestled with these questions personally and professionally. He was baptized a Catholic, but his faith journey led him to Protestant evangelicalism. How did he Return to Rome? He joins us.

The Feast of Pentecost is one of the most noteworthy celebrations in the Liturgical year, and it has Old Testament roots that are often overlooked. Marcus discusses.

Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, and tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of St. Matthias – the man who replaced Judas. We dive into these feasts with Steve Ray.

This weekend, Fr. Charles Trullols will lead a Eucharistic procession through the heart of the nation’s capital as we gear up for election season and the Eucharistic Revival. He joins us.

At the Synod on Synodality last year, Australian theologian Fr Ormond Rush spoke on Joseph Ratzinger’s theology of revelation and faith, in light of his commentary on Dei Verbum. Eduardo Echeverria helps us understand it.

There’s been a recent resurgence of interest in ancient Stoicism, because it provides some of the Christian benefits without – so people think – the Christian dogmas. The Stoics, in fact, had their own fundamental dogmas, starting with the benevolence of the Divine Nature. Do many modern Stoics believe in that? Robert Royal joins us with more.

The Vatican’s doctrine office will publish a new document next week on discerning Marian apparitions and other supernatural events. Matthew Bunson joins us with more on this and other Church news.

In Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI wrote that “The substantial conversion of bread and wine into his body and blood introduces within creation the principle of a radical change, a sort of “nuclear fission,” to use an image familiar to us today, which penetrates to the heart of all being, a change meant to set off a process which transforms reality, a process leading ultimately to the transfiguration of the entire world, to the point where God will be all in all.” We unpack the meaning of this with Dan Philpott.

Joseph Ratzinger once defined belief as “entrusting oneself to that which has not been made by oneself and never could be made and which precisely in this way supports and makes possible all our making.” In order to do and understand anything, we have to first take a stand on some ground, which is what the Hebrew word amen signifies. David Bonagura joins us.

In 1925, Pope Pius XI published an encyclical on the Kingship of Jesus. Marcus takes us on a deep dive.  

Over many centuries, Christians have lost sight of the heart of the Eternal Covenant: our nuptial union with God in Jesus as members of his Body and Bride. This has fueled a growing crisis of Christian identity and witness. Only by rediscovering the depth and beauty of our salvation in Christ will we be drawn to share more fully in his life and saving mission. We talk with Fr. Timothy Vaverek.

This Sunday’s Gospel contains the story of the Ascension and what is known as Jesus’ Priestly Prayer. We open up the Scripture with Peggy Stanton.

What is civilization without the Eucharist? The answer is all around us, and it is a terrible thing to see. Jason Craig joins us.

The first three chapters of Genesis form the foundation for all that follows in salvation history. Without Genesis 1-3, one cannot properly settle into the Biblical vision of reality. Genesis 1-3 places the human person in his cosmic setting and reveals his sacred origin, majesty and wonder as well as his flaw, his chronic rejection of God’s wisdom. Humanity needs a Savior and, from the start of Genesis, there is the promise that history has a meaningful direction: A savior is coming. We discuss these passages with Monica Miller.

President Biden recently signed legislation overwhelmingly passed by Congress potentially banning TikTok in the United States. The bipartisan law imposes a nationwide ban on the app unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests completely within the next nine months. Michele Exner, senior adviser for Parents Defending Education, joins us with more.

Philosophy is the reflective attempt to illuminate our human experience and integrate it into a unified vision of reality. Catholic philosophy comes in many forms and schools of thought, but it cannot deconstruct the ultimate truths of the faith. We explore the thoughts of four Catholic philosophers with Richard Spinello.

Our culture seems to gravitate between two extremes: we either despise waiting, grumbling to ourselves and fidgeting with our phones as we sit in line at a red light or the bank - or we revel in laziness, embracing the down time as an entitlement. Waiting is a recurring theme in the Bible - Noah waited for the waters to recede, Abraham waited for a son, the Israelites waited to enter the Promised Land, and now we wait for the return of Christ. Jeannie Ewing joins us to talk why God makes us wait and how he speaks to us in those times when nothing seems to be happening.

Jake and Heather Khym’s ministry Life Restoration helps awaken disciples of Christ by connecting them to Jesus, their authentic self, and Kingdom living. Through human and spiritual formation, they join Jesus in bringing the Kingdom of God into our everyday lives.

This month we celebrate the Month of Mary. We look at the history of Marian devotion and her role in the renewal of Church life with John Cavadini.