Kresta in the Afternoon

Fr. Chase Hilgenbrinck thought he had it all. He was a rising soccer star, playing the game he loved in front of packed stadiums. But he stepped away to become a priest. Why? He joins us.

Today is the feast of John Henry Newman, one of the Church’s great modern thinkers. He once said that Conscience is the “aboriginal vicar of Christ.” But at the same time, he was no friend of turning the Church’s teachings into a subjective religion. We look at his life and writings with Michael Dauphinais.

From September 2023 to May 2024, the arm of Saint Jude Thaddeus, venerated in Rome from ancient times, will be on pilgrimage in the United States, making stops in 100 cities. It’s in the Detroit area this week and Fr. Carlos Martins, who is leading the tour, joins us.

In his Apostolic Exhortation Laudate deum, Pope Francis said that Western countries are not moving fast enough to combat the effects of climate change. While there is much about the Western world and its priorities that is ripe for criticism, it should be noted that the great majority of advances in water quality, air quality, and habitat health have occurred in the West. We talk more with Tom Doran.

Exactly 50 years and one day after Israel was caught off guard by a coordinated military attack, it happened again. Hamas militants invaded by land, sea and air and fired thousands of rockets into the country. The parallels are striking and certainly not a coincidence. Dov Waxman joins us with more.

This weekend, militant groups led by Hamas launched a large-scale invasion against Israel, killing more than 1000 people and kidnapping dozens more. Dakota Wood tells us what’s going on.

Do you ever hear Catholics talk about prayer but feel like you can’t relate? You’re not alone, and even the saints struggled at times with prayer. God helped them, and he wants to help us. We discuss what happens when you pray with Ed Sri.

In this Sunday’s Gospel we return once again to the Vineyard. This time, Jesus tells us of a landowner who continued to send messengers to his workers, only for the messengers to be killed. He concludes the parable by stating that the stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. Peggy Stanton joins us to unpack the teachings.

There’s been no shortage of Church news this week. We kicked off the week learning that Pope Francis had responded to two lists of dubias from bishops around the world. And on Wednesday the pope published his Apostolic exhortation Laudate deum, the follow up to Laudato si. All of this is happening as the Synod on Synodality officially begins. Matthew Bunson joins us to unpack it all.

Many modern secular thinkers, in an effort to criticize religion and belief in God, claim that all religions are essentially the same. This is, of course, preposterous and it only takes a basic understanding of what the different religions profess to see they are not at all the same. But understanding the similarities and differences is essential, both in strengthening our own faith and achieving dialogue with others. David Pinault joins us once again with a look at Islam and its connections to Christianity.