Kresta in the Afternoon

The bishops can issue documents until the end of time, but all the documents, pastorals, and programs will have little to no effect in reviving faith in and reverence toward the Eucharist as long as Catholic politicians are permitted to receive the Body and Blood of Christ with the blood of the innocent on their hands. Monica Miller joins us.

“That which is beyond our understanding is not beyond reason itself, or, more correctly, it is not beyond Reason Himself.” Joe Pearce opens up what this means.

By the end of its current term, the Supreme Court will have made historic decisions about the scope of religious freedom in America. It will have to settle disputes relating to state school choice, prayers said inside the execution chamber, and abortion in Mississippi.  Andrea Picciotti-Bayer gives us the details.

January 4 was the Feast of Elizabeth Ann Seton. Born a member of privileged society, she would grow to create the country’s first Catholic faith community and helped launch Catholic education in America. We’ll talk more about her with Catherine O’Donnell.

Pro-life leaders say they are deeply disturbed by a recent New York Times investigation that found some prenatal blood tests have alarmingly high false positive results for genetic disorders that frequently result in the abortion of unborn children. The investigation found that tests for some genetic disorders produce false positives around 85% of the time. Michael New tells us more.

Today is the traditional feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. We talk with Steve Ray about the history of the feast.

Some Catholics devoted to the Traditional Latin Mass are planning a march from Paris to Rome to ask Pope Francis to reconsider restrictions arising from Traditionis Custodes. The Catholic association La Voie Romaine is also collecting letters from around the world that will be delivered upon conclusion of the march. Matthew Bunson has the latest.

As we kick off the new year, how can we 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

The result of the Dobbs v Jackson case will be monumental for the pro-life movement, but it’s important for another reason. It will tell us whether the conservative legal movement of the last 40 years has been a success. Gerry Bradley joins us with more.

It is a widely accepted point of view that J.R.R Tolkien was dismissive of the modern fiction of his time, and that ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ were fundamentally medieval and nostalgic in their inspiration. But is that true? What contemporary books and authors did he admire? Holly Ordway joins us to examine Tolkien's modern influences.