Talking about the "things that matter most" on Oct. 2
4:00 – Kresta Comments
4:20 – Born to Love
Many Christians today find it hard to accept that "homosexuality is wrong" based on the Bible or Church authority: it seems to contradict what they know to be obviously OK and normal. Others are convinced that gay-lesbian lifestyle is wrong, but have no answer for those who justify it with Scripture. Fr. John Waiss has a clear, solid presentation of Catholic teaching on homosexuality and related topics. The presentation is well grounded in John Paul II's personalist philosophy and Theology of the Body, making convincing arguments that are accessible to all. He focuses on the intrinsic good of the person and on the true meaning of sexuality as created by God. He is our guest
4:40 – Rembert Weakland’s Oprah Ecclesiology
For many people, the name of Archbishop Rembert Weakland brings to mind only connotations of scandal — the titillating tale of a prominent priest disgraced. But, according to his recently-released autobiography, that whiff of dishonor barely begins to tell the whole story. Russell Shaw has an unvarnished review of the book.
5:00 – Walking with the Guardian Angels
More than half of all adults, including one in five of those who say they are not religious, believe that they have been protected by a guardian angel during their life. With today’s feast of the Guardian Angels upon us, we talk with Joan Wester Anderson, who has collected astonishing first-hand accounts of the presence of angels among us: a dying infant inexplicably recovers after an encounter with a mysterious visitor; a long-lost son suddenly returns home for Christmas; a young man drowning in an icy river unaccountably finds himself on shore; a grieving widow, alone and far from home, receives comfort and counsel from angels in disguise. These stories and dozens of others show ordinary people taking their needs to God. All of them received what they needed from a loving God who responded to their deepest needs. She shares these stories of angels among us.
5:20 – An Interview With St. Francis
The feast of St. Francis Assisi is this Sunday, and we are joined by St. Francis himself!!! Well, he will be mediated by Leonardo DeFilipis, but you are in for a great conversation.
Did I have an encounter with an angel?
ReplyDeleteSomething very bad happened to me in terms of health ten years ago, and I tried everything I could think of to get it fixed, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy. That meant driving from Denver to Boulder a few times a week. On one of those therapy days, while my wife and I were driving up to Boulder on Highway 36, the car breaks down near one of the intersections. We walk to the on-ramp to see if we can hitch a ride to Boulder, hoping we won't be too late for the appointment.
We hold out our thumbs and several cars pass us by, but soon a young man in a small car stops and offers to give us a lift. We thank him and tell him what happened. He tells us that he was a little worried about picking us up, but he also felt a tug to help us out. I ask him if he is religious; he says he's a Christian. We talk about that on the way to Boulder.
I got the feeling that picking us up was kind of a test for him -- would he really be living out his Christian faith if he passed us by? Or could he live up to the example of the good Samaritan? Maybe he was going through a time of questioning about just how good a Christian he really was.
He drops us off in Boulder. We thank him again and give him a few bucks. He wishes us well and drives off. That was it -- in and out of our lives in fifteen minutes. I even remarked to my wife, jokingly, that maybe he's an angel. We don't remember his name, or the kind of car he drove, or anything else about him. It was a fleeting moment. Sounds like the kind of encounter Joan Wester Anderson describes.
But I'm a skeptic. What if we look at this encounter from another point of view -- from his perspective. Here's a guy who may be wondering if he really measures up as a Christian. He's heading onto Highway 36 and sees a couple who need a ride. He's reluctant, but he performs his Christian duty. Two people come into his life in a brief encounter -- they appear at a time when he needs to test his faith. He passes the test, and the encounter bolsters his faith. From his point of view we just might be angels.
But we're not angels. If he were to tell his side of the story, thinking we were angels, he'd be wrong.