Kresta in the Afternoon

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.

Why are some Christians skeptical of the “institutional” nature of the Church? If we read St Paul, we see the Graces he refers to are only available to those who

The Jewish feasts commemorate God’s sovereign deliverance of his people from Egypt and his providential care for them throughout the Exodus. Yet as important as these holy days are for Jews, they are also significant for Christians, for they foreshadow God's plan of salvation for the world in Christ. We take a closer look with Andre Villeneuve.

LoriAnn Mancini grew up in a Christian home, but slowly abandoned her faith in her late teens. She would spend the next several years searching for peace and for answers, and she finally found them in an adoration chapel. She shares her story with us.

Did you find it strange during Sunday’s Gospel that the congregation cried “Hosanna!” and then just a few minutes later demanded that Pilate crucify Jesus? Having these two seemingly contradictory events juxtaposed is entirely appropriate to the nature of Christ’s kingship as well as representative of our own spiritual lives. We’ll talk more about it with Dr. James Merrick.

When we watch The Passion of the Christ, it’s hard not to be impacted by Maia Morgenstern’s performance as the Blessed Mother. And Holy Week is an ideal time to imagine ourselves accompanying Mary on that journey with Jesus and consider how she must have felt watching her son be tortured and crucified. We talk more with Fr. Edward Looney.

Most of us know what we believe as Catholics, but often we're unclear on why we believe it. At a time when vast numbers of Catholics are slipping away from the Faith, God has tasked you and countless other Catholics with understanding it so you will be prepared to defend it. John Martignoni joins us with advice for getting started in apologetics.

In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis laments how the Christian faith is often reduced to a disjointed multitude of doctrines. We can see this problem with how we often overlook the radical connection between the Cross, God’s self-revelation in Christ, and man’s identity as the imago Dei. We kick off Holy Week exploring this with Philip Primeau.

Today, St. Thomas Aquinas is best known for his Summa Theologiae and is regarded as a great exemplar of systematic theology. But if you traveled back in time and told him that, he would probably be surprised, for he likely saw himself more as a teacher of Sacred Scripture. Studying his Scriptural work can be a daunting task, and we take a crack at it with Dr. John Boyle.  

For most of last year, attacks against pro-life institutions went largely investigated and prosecuted. The tide may be starting to turn, as there have been a number of charges filed in recent weeks. Clare Kosmalski has an update and also tells us how you can contact the imprisoned Red Rose Rescuers.