Today on Kresta - Oct. 13, 2009

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Oct. 13

4:00 – Kresta Comments

4:20 – A Theology of Relics
The hosting of a relic of St. Damien of Molokai (1840-1889) in the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Detroit, Oct. 13-14 provides an opportunity for us to reflect on the meaning and purpose of relics within the Catholic faith. Relics, it seems, are still very much in the news. Recently, a thief stole a relic of the true cross from a monastery in Spain. In England, thousands of people - many of them unbelievers - turned out for a public tour of the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux . Why so much concern about the remains of the dead? Dr. Robert Fastiggi is here to explain.

4:40 – A Catholic View of Literary Classics – Part 4 of 10: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
We continue our 10-week series examining Classic Literature from a Catholic perspective. Acclaimed literary biographer Mary Reichardt is one of the editors of the Ignatius Critical Editions and will be our guide this week. We will ensure that traditional moral readings of the works are given prominence, instead of the feminist or deconstructionist readings that often proliferate in other series of 'critical editions'. As such, they represent a genuine extension of consumer choice, enabling educators, students, and lovers of good literature to buy editions of classic literary works without having to 'buy into' the ideologies of secular fundamentalism. Today, we examine The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

5:00 – The Abbess of Andalusia: Flannery O'Connor’s Spiritual Journey
Flannery O'Connor has been studied and lauded under many labels: the Southern author whose pen captured the soul of a proud region struggling to emerge out of racism and poverty, the female writer whose independent spirit and tragically short life inspired a generation of women, the Catholic artist whose fiction evokes themes of sin and damnation, mercy and redemption. Now, and for the first time, The Abbess of Andalusia affords us an in-depth look at Flannery O'Connor the believer. You will come to know Flannery O'Connor not only as a writer and an icon, but as a theologian and apologist; as a spiritual director and a student of prayer; as a suffering soul who learned obedience and merited grace through infirmity; and truly, as the Abbess of her own small, but significant, spiritual house. Lorraine Murray guides us.

5:40 – Kresta Comments