Kresta in the Afternoon

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.

Most of America recognizes today as Halloween, but the Christian world acknowledges something far more significant - the start of the Reformations that began more than 500 years ago. It’s a complicated story and there are key details, often overlooked, that are essential for understanding why the Reformations happened. For example, religious reform was a major force in the reformation, but nationalism played a major role as well. We'll talk with Benjamin Wiker about this and other forgotten details of the Reformations.

The time of the Protestant Reformations was a tumultuous time, filled with heroes, heretics and a few people who were both. Some are well-known, and some have been largely forgotten. Who were these people - and just how many Reformations were there? Phillip Campbell joins us.

Kresta Comments: Was the Reformation a Success?

On October 27, 312, Emperor Constantine prepared to take his troops into battle at Milvian Bridge. According to tradition, he saw in the sky an image of the cross and the words “through this sign, you shall conquer.” The next day he won a massive victory. What do we know about this story, and about them an himself? Bill Cook joins us.

It’s almost Trick or Treating time again. What should Catholics do about Halloween? Is it a pagan ritual saturated in demonic influences? Is it a secular corruption of a Catholic holiday to honor the saints? Or is it something else? Fr. Steve Grunow joins us to explain how and why Catholics should embrace Halloween.

Whether you love or hate the 1960s, most people would agree they were a landmark period in American history and culture. Reforms intended to make the nation more just and humane left Americans feeling more alienated and misled. Chris Caldwell looks at the roller coaster of the last half-century and how Americans came to have two different ideas of what it means to play by the rules.

Yesterday Al examined the difficult doctrine of a loving God allowing the existence of Hell. How is it possible that we could “choose” Hell at all? Al discusses.

The Church’s teaching on Hell is a hard doctrine to get our minds around – why would God allow us to suffer eternally? But the doctrine of God’s love can also be difficult. And we can’t fully understand one without the other. Al explains.

In 1994, Pope John Paull II established the Pontifical Academy for Life to promote the Church’s teachings on the value and sacredness of human life. But four recent appointees to the Academy have publicly broken with Church teaching on abortion and contraception. What is going on? Matthew Bunson joins us.