Today on Kresta - February 16, 2010

Talking about the Things That Matter Most on Feb. 16

4:00 – Taliban's most senior military commander captured by the CIA in Pakistan raid – Terrorists, Trials, and Civil Rights
The Taliban's top military commander has been arrested in a joint CIA-Pakistani operation in Pakistan. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the No.2 behind Afghan Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar and a close associate of Osama bin Laden, was captured in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi. The arrest represents a major victory against the insurgents as U.S. troops push into their heartland in southern Afghanistan. In light of this capture and the debate raging about the Christmas bomber and the Khalid Sheik Mohammad trial, we talk to former JAG Officer and Ave Maria Law School Dean Eugene Milhizer about terrorists, trials, and civil rights.

4:20 – The Long Journey: In Search of Justice and Peace in Jerusalem
The Long Journey takes us into the heart of Jerusalem-Mount Zion, the site of the Benedictine Dormition Monastery, a place where pilgrims, seekers, and peacemakers come for liturgies, prayer, and conversation. Our guide on this journey is James Paharik, who in nine closely woven essays, leads us through the labyrinthine spaces of Jerusalem. He also reveals hearts damaged by violence but also brimming with hope that Israel will one day soon live up to her calling, as expressed in Psalm 76.

4:40 – “Blood Done Signed My Name”
“Blood Done Signed My Name” is a drama based on the true story in which a black Vietnam-era veteran is allegedly murdered by a local white businessman who is later exonerated. The plot focuses on the role of a local high school teacher and the civil unrest that followed the acquittal. It is the film adaptation of a book of the same name by Timothy Tyson. The film hits theaters this weekend and writer / director Jeb Stuart joins us.

5:00 – The Gargoyle Code
Not since the Screwtape Letters has there been such a devastatingly diabolical collection of correspondence. Master Tempter Slubgrip writes daily to a trainee devil Dogwart, advising him on the temptation of a confused young Catholic, while he struggles to control his own patient, an older Catholic man who is facing a serious illness. Meanwhile, Slubgrip has to watch his back, keep control of various under devils who are plotting to take control of his territory and send him to the banqueting house of the Father below. The Gargoyle Code makes for un-put-downable reading at any time, but it is especially designed as a book to be read during Lent. The letters from the tempters begin on Shrove Tuesday and follow day by day, taking the reader on an entertaining, enlightening and sobering journey toward Easter Sunday. Fr Dwight Longenencker has written a book on spiritual warfare that is profound, hilarious, upbeat and inspiring. He nails the devils and all his works, and succeeds in keeping the reader's attention all the way through. He joins us.

5:40 – The Spirituality of Fasting: Rediscovering a Christian Practice
On this day before Ash Wednesday, we take a look at the history, theology, and spirituality of fasting. We draw on sources ancient and current--from Augustine to Michael Pollan--to consider anew how fasting informs the relationships between creator/creature, body/soul, and rich/poor. In timely response to Pope Benedict's urging that the value and meaning of fasting need to be "rediscovered and encouraged again in our day," Msgr. Michael Murphy is here to look at fasting.