Kresta in the Afternoon

Have you ever tried to have a close, loving relationship with someone you don’t know? It’s not easy. Most would never dream of attempting such intimacy with a human stranger, yet many of us try to do just that with God! But just as with people, if we don’t know God, we can’t love him. Luckily, we can find help in the writings of Thomas Aquinas. Kevin Vost joins us.

If John the Baptist appeared today and began preaching on a street corner, what would people say? The wiry, wild-looking man shouting for people to repent would turn more than a few heads and raise more than a few eyebrows. This Sunday's Gospel tells his story, and we take a look with Carl Olson.

For Dr. Brent Robbins, who was raised Catholic and became an atheist, the problem of evil and suffering was a big reason why he stopped believing in God. And while he never found a simple answer to why a good God would allow suffering, he did come to understand that there were more layers to that question than he'd initially realized. He shares his story.

In a recent interview with America Magazine, Pope Francis was asked what he would say to a woman serving the Church who felt she was called to the priesthood. He unequivocally stated that women cannot be ordained as priests but emphasized the important role they have to play in the life of the Church. We break down his answer with Monica Miller.

What does Plato have to do with the Christian faith? Quite a bit, it turns out. In ways that might surprise us, Christians throughout the history of the church and even today have inherited aspects of the ancient Greek philosophy of the man who learned from Socrates and taught Aristotle. Louis Markos helps us understand.

Protests erupted across China this weekend against the country's ongoing extreme Covid Lockdowns, and China analyst Ben Rogers estimates they are the biggest protests in the country since the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989. Today, two cities announced they would be easing restrictions. Is this a sign of things to come? Michael Cunningham joins us.

Advent is officially underway, and it’s a great opportunity for us to grow in our relationship with Jesus. The path of following Jesus is an ancient and storied spiritual tradition. Yet many believers are not familiar with the three major forms of prayer and the three stages of spiritual growth that exist to bring them closer to God. We’ll explore them with Brant Pitre.

These first weeks of Advent focus more on the Lord’s second coming in glory than on His first coming at Bethlehem. The Gospel clearly states that we must always be prepared, for at an hour we do not expect, the Son of Man will come. “Ready” is the key word. But how should we be ready? We talk with Msgr Charles Pope.

How did the ancient Christians know who Messiah would be? One sign was detailed in the first chapter of Malachi: "From the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts." We talk with Mike Aquilina about how the early church was defined by Malachi's oracle and how they found identity in the Eucharist.

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople recently stated that conversations are ongoing between Catholic and Orthodox churches to agree on a common celebration of Easter in 2025. Pope Francis has expressed interest and has gone as far as to say he is ready to accept any proposal that is made together. Matthew Bunson fills us in.