Kresta in the Afternoon

There is a beautiful relationship between the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of the Eucharist, especially with respect to our communion with Jesus and his Body, the Church. Bishop Andrew Cozzens joins us to discuss more as we get closer and closer to the Eucharistic Congress.

When a welder lifts his mask, you might not expect to see a priest’s clerical collar. But that’s the case with Fr. Dominic Couturier, who is the chaplain and welding instructor at Harmel Academy of the Trades in Grand Rapids. He joins us with more on his work and how he came to find this vocation.

Are we, on Earth, the lone intelligent inhabitants of this vast universe? The Catholic tradition teaches us that there are other rational creatures, namely angels, who are purely intellectual, non-physical beings. But do we humans share the cosmos with any other embodied intelligent forms of life? Paul Thigpen joins us.

When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in December 1948, its writers made sure to include an article on the importance of religious freedom. And in 1993, President Clinton signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, ensuring the federal protection of religious freedom. But now, some intellectuals are questioning whether religious freedom merits a right of its own. Fifty years from now, will we still celebrate religious freedom as a fundamental right? Dan Philpott joins us.

If the Catholic Church were merely a human institution, she would've entered the dustbin of history centuries ago, both because of internal scandals and external persecutions. Instead, two thousand years after the Resurrection, the Church continues to advance her God-given Great Commission. We examine the Biblical basis for the Church with Tom Nash.

In a letter published last week, Bishop Eduardo Kussala of South Sudan lamented the challenges Christians are facing in his country, including ongoing violence and continued fallout from the pandemic. Ed Clancy of Aid to the Church in Need joins us with more.

On Friday, Irish voters considered two changes to the country's constitution that would have broadened the definition of family and removed language about the social value of women within the home. Despite overwhelming support from political parties and cultural elites, both measures were resoundingly defeated. Marie-Louise O’Donnell, a former Irish Senator, joins us.

Late last week the Coptic Orthodox Church announced it has suspended dialogue with the Catholic Church due to Rome’s “change of position” on homosexuality. While their statements did not explicitly mention Fiducia Supplicans, the timing is hard to ignore. Matthew Bunson joins us.

G.K. Chesterton is among the most prolific Christian literary apologists of the last century. In more than 100 books and essays, he made a convincing case for the Gospel. Yet he is often portrayed as a simple, cheery many. Ralph Wood argues there is more to the story – he joins us.

In Psalm 84, we hear of the swallows and sparrows that have an envious place for nesting, for they have built their nests at the altars of the Lord. We unpack the meaning of the passage with Steve Ray.