Kresta in the Afternoon

August 8 is the Feast of St. Dominic. Unlike many of our great saints, Dominic did not leave a deposit of writings to be examined and built upon. Yet this medieval Spaniard still has much to teach us today, and we see this in the way of life he left to the Church. Fr. Patrick Briscoe joins us.

Although most Catholic priests are devout men who have sincerely committed their lives to Christ and His Church, they are also human beings with faults and failings. In our day, thousands of priests have been exposed for committing the gravest of sins: abusing those who have been entrusted to their care. Fr. Mitch Pacwa joins us to talk about this and his book “Wheat and Tares.”

In today’s political debate, it is easy for conservatives to point the moral finger at those who espouse willfully and destructive views. Yet, much of how society has declined is owed to how those on the conservative side have failed to uphold core truths of the human person, marriage, and the family. Clement Harrold joins us.

The Eucharist isn’t just a foundational and core doctrine of the Catholic faith, It is central to our understanding of many other doctrines in the Christian faith. Much of our work in apologetics can sometimes center around making a case for the Eucharist, Joe Heschmeyer takes a big picture approach, explaining how all Catholic doctrines are foundationally Eucharistic.

The narrative of the so-called “Great Apostasy” goes like this: just a few centuries after Christ’s death, around the time the Roman Empire converted to Christianity, the true Faith suffered a catastrophic falling-away. The simple truths of the gospel became so obscured by worldliness and pagan idolatry that Christianity required a complete reboot. Millions today profess a faith built on the assumption that the early Church quickly became broken beyond repair, requiring some new prophet or reformer to restore the pure teaching of Jesus and the apostles. This theory is popular... but it’s also fiction. Rod Bennett is here with the truth.

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.

On Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration, one of the most extraordinary moments in the life of Jesus. The connection between this event and ancient Israel is strong – Al explains how.

When protestants say "Scripture is clear on such and such..." what do they mean exactly? The Catholic Church has a very clear and distinct view of how Scripture speaks to us. Casey Chalk joins us to talk about his latest book, "The Obscurity of Scripture."

The words "Catholic Identity" can be ambiguous in today's society. What does it mean to have an authentically Catholic Identity in a secular culture? Justin McClain joins us.

Just how much did the theology and liturgical life of the Church shape western civilization? Can western civilization be redeemed by the Eucharist? We talk with Jared Staudt about this in his latest book, "How The Eucharist Can Save Civilization."