Kresta in the Afternoon

Zubair Simonson’s mother was a Muslim from Pakistan, and his father an American who converted to Islam. Growing up, he got a variety of impressions about what it meant to be truly Muslim, but really began to question things when he witnessed the September 11, 2001 attacks as a freshman at the University of Michigan. Later, a personal crisis led him to explore Christianity, starting with C.S. Lewis. Lewis led him to G.K. Chesterton, and reading Chesterton was a large part of what helped Zubair understand both the beauty and the reasonableness of Catholicism.

Zubair Simonson is a Catholic convert from Islam who was recently featured on EWTN’s The Journey Home. Find his writings at the Catholic Gentleman and National Catholic Register and find his ebook, The Rose, which is a narrative guide through the Rosary, on Kindle.

On this feast of St. John Vianney, Al shares his thoughts on the Catholic priesthood.

On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, annihilating both cities and finally brining and end to the war. Truman’s decision to use such a devastating weapon is one of the most controversial wartime actions of modern history. Was it justified? Can we compare the loss of life from the bombs to a potential loss of life from a land invasion of Japan? What of the relationship between atomic weapons and the Cold War? Fr Bill Miscamble joins us.

Fr Bill Miscamble is a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a professor in the history department at Notre Dame. He's the author most recently of American Priest: The Ambitious Life and Conflicted Legacy of Notre Dame's Father Ted Hesburgh as well as The Most Controversial Decision: Truman, the Atomic Bombs and the Defeat of Japan.

One year ago today, a massive explosion ripped through the port of Beirut, Lebanon. The blast caused at least 218 deaths, injured thousands, and left an estimated 300,000 people homeless. Fr. Joseph Khalil of the Maronite Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary joins us with a look at how the city is doing now.

Fr Joseph Khalil is a priest of the Maronite Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary serving here in Ann Arbor. To help Lebanon you can visit Maronite-heritage.org or send a check to the BVM Fund Lebanon at 4405 Earhart Road, Ann Arbor, MI, 48105

After a year of hiatus, Steve Ray has finally returned to the pilgrimage circuit. He and Al invite you to join them this November to St Augustine, Florida, where the Catholic Church in America was born. Steve joins us with the story and we discuss the spirituality of pilgrimages.

Steve Ray leads pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Rome and other sites. He converted to Catholicism in 1994 and is the author of Crossing the Tiber, Upon this Rock, and other books. He’s the host and producer of the Footprints of God DVD series and has been to the Holy Land more than 180 times. He also writes bible studies for Catholic Scripture Study International Visit catholic-convert.com and footprintsofgodpilgrimages.com

A study by the Nigerian-based International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law has released a report that finds more than 3400 Christians have been killed this year alone in that country. In addition to that, 3000 Christians have been abducted and 300 churches have been attacked. Ed Clancy fills us in.

Edward Clancy is Director of Outreach for Aid to the Church in Need. Visit churchinneed.org and follow them on Twitter @churchinneed.

When we consider Catholic spirituality, there are two words with deep meanings that tend to get tossed around: “Liturgy” and “Mysticism.” We tend to think of Liturgy as formalities such as the sacraments, practiced in public, and mysticism as the uncontrollable, private experiences. In other words, they are separate categories. So how could there be a “Liturgical Mysticism?” David Fagerberg joins us.

David Fagerberg is a professor of liturgical studies in the department of theology at the University of Notre Dame. He’s the author of several books including Liturgical Mysticism and Liturgical Dogmatics.

Al shares his thoughts on the upcoming Supreme Court case, Dobbs v Jackson.  The State of Mississippi has filed an amicus brief (as well as other organizations) calling for the overturning of Roe v Wade.  Will it happen?  Al discusses this.

Several professional sports teams are rethinking their mascots, which are said to be racially offensive. Some say it’s time for Notre Dame to do the same – the Fighting Irish represent a harmful stereotype of violent, drunken immigrants. The origins of the name are up for debate, but one theory is especially compelling. It’s an incredible story of Catholic students rising up to combat the KKK. Todd Tucker joins us.

Todd Tucker is the author of seven books, including Notre Dame Vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan. He's a veteran of the United States submarine force and a Notre Dame graduate. Follow him on Twitter @toddatucker.

Have you ever thought of your family life as a liturgy? The word “liturgy” describes the specific “work” the Church does to heal the damage sin creates in our relationships with God and others. The Liturgy of the Eucharist conquers sin’s power to separate us from God and gives us the grace we need to go forth and build a civilization of love and the complementary liturgy of domestic church life enables us to bring Jesus home (so to speak), empowering us to heal the damage sin has done to the very root of civilization: the human family. We talk Domestic and Monastic spirituality with Dr Greg Popcak.

Dr. Gregory Popcak is the director of The Pastoral Solutions Institute, a Catholic tele-counseling practice providing marriage & mental health counseling services to Catholics worldwide. Together with his wife Lisa Popcak, he is the author of over 20 books on relationships and spirituality. You can hear Dr. Greg and Lisa each weekday at 10am eastern on their radio program More2Life, which is produced by Ave Maria Radio and carried by the EWTN Radio Network.