Today on Kresta - April 16, 2009

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Apr. 16

3:00 – VA Tech Tragedy – April 16, 2007
On an unforgettable April morning, Virginia Tech student Lauren McCain lost her life, along with thirty-one others, at the hands of a gunman in the largest mass murder in modern U.S. history. But what could not be destroyed was Lauren's unyielding faith and spirit, which live on in the memories of those who knew and loved her. It has now been two years since that tragedy, and Beth Lueders tells the extraordinary story of this historic tragic event, and more importantly, its aftermath as survivors struggle to make sense of it, to cope, and to keep their faith stronger than ever before.

3:40 – R.I.P. - A Tribute to Dr. Thomas Dillon - President of Thomas Aquinas College

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4:00 – Change is Possible
Discovering a child’s or loved-one’s same-sex attraction (SSA) can be the start of a difficult journey. Countless questions and fears arise as you try to find adequate and meaningful resources to your most pressing questions. Richard Cohen speaks to this challenge from a first-hand experience. He is here to share his personal testimony of “Coming Out Straight”, the real causes of SSA, the process of healing, and what you can do to promote change.

4:20 – University of Notre Dame President Rejects Students' Requests for Dialogue
In a private letter addressed to a coalition of 12 campus groups and organizations, University of Notre Dame president, Fr. John Jenkins denied students’ requests for dialogue on the issues surrounding the University’s invitation to and honoring of President Barack Obama at this year’s commencement exercises. Responding to a letter sent to him by representatives of the ND Response coalition on April 7th, the University’s president wrote that “conditions for constructive dialogue simply do not exist” and that students could disregard his earlier invitations to meet with him. John Daly, Media Coordinator of the ND Response Coalition is with us.

4:30 – University of Notre Dame President Rejects Students' Requests for Dialogue
Alumni and financial supporters of the University of Notre Dame this week launched a new online effort to withhold donations until Rev. John Jenkins is replaced as president of the prominent Catholic university. The national alumni coalition is urging alumni and friends of the university to withhold donations, which could add up to tens of millions of dollars. The coalition website – http://www.replacejenkins.com/ - urges supporters to withhold all contributions to the Notre Dame General Fund until President Jenkins is replaced with someone who is committed to the authentic identity of Notre Dame, grounded in the teachings of the Catholic Church. Coalition representative David DiFranco, ND Class of 1995, is with us.

4:40 – “Da Vinci Code 2” puts spotlight back on Opus Dei
The film of Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons—opening next month—is reviving interest in Opus Dei, the real-life Catholic organization caricatured in The Da Vinci Code as an ecclesiastical mafia and guardian of the Church’s darkest secrets. The assault on Opus Dei—which helps ordinary Christians pursue holiness in their everyday work and family life—reveals more about Hollywood than about Opus Dei. In a candid new book edited by Opus Dei member Marie Oates, women of Opus Dei tell their own stories of how they find God and serve their neighbor in their professional work and at home.

5:00 – Sign and Counter-Sign: Theological and Canonical Reflections on Religious Life in View of the Maciel Disgrace
The name of Marcial Maciel now seems destined to become a byword for duplicity and manipulation of the most craven and cynical kind. In the wake of Maciel’s disgrace, a lively debate has ensued over the future of the religious congregation that he founded. Some charge that the Legion of Christ is bound so inextricably to the persona of its founder that the congregation cannot continue and must be suppressed or merged into another order or congregation. However, defenders of the Legion and its associated lay organization Regnum Christi argue against suppression, pointing to their good works and the undoubted existence of many faithful members who played no part in the Maciel fraud. We take the opportunity to examine – with canon lawyer Michael Dunnigan - theological and canonical reflections on religious life in view of the Maciel disgrace.



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5:20 – Pope Benedict’s Divine Mercy Mandate
On the world stage and in the life of the Catholic Church, John Paul II became known as the Great Mercy Pope devoting his second encyclical to Gods mercy, forgiving his would-be assassin, making Sr. Faustina, the great apostle of Divine Mercy, a saint and establishing Divine Mercy Sunday as a universal feast day in the Church. With that feast upon us this Sunday, Pope John Paul the Great’s successor, Benedict XVI, has become known as a Pope of Mercy in his own right. He opened the first ever World Apostolic Congress on Mercy in Rome last April and at its conclusion called the participants to go forth and be witnesses of Gods mercy. David Came is here to help us discover Pope Benedicts Divine Mercy Mandate.