Today on Kresta - April 16, 2010

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

4:00 – April 17, 1790 – Benjamin Franklin Dies: The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers
With the anniversary of the death of Benjamin Franking tomorrow, we take a compelling and intimate look at the founders—George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison—and the women who played essential roles in their lives. Tom Fleming examines the women who were at the center of the lives of the founding fathers and nimbly takes us through a great deal of early American history, as his founding fathers strove to reconcile the private and public, often beset by a media every bit as gossip seeking and inflammatory as ours today.

4:20 – The Trinity: Exploring the Great Christian Mystery
The mystery of the Trinity is the central Christian belief. The subject of intense theological debates, wars, and great works of art, belief in the Trinity is as vital to our faith today as ever before. Fr. John Farrelly helps us sort through our most important questions about the Trinity. We will see the Trinity in scripture, both through the Old and New Testaments. We will follow the extraordinary development of Trinitarian doctrine. And we will see how the Trinity remains relevant in the modern world. Understand Trinitarian spirituality. The Trinity is a mystery, indeed the central Christian mystery. Not simply an intellectual mystery, it is a mystery of our salvation.

4:45 – “The Perfect Game”
Living amidst the gritty poverty of 1957 Monterrey, Mexico, a rag–tag group of boys from the wrong side of the tracks discovers the joy of sandlot baseball under the guidance of Cesar, an aspiring Major League Coach thwarted by discrimination. Armed with the dream of playing a real Little League game, the young players defy a total lack of resources, disapproving parents, and widespread prejudice to score their first Little League victory and find themselves at the beginning of a once-in-a-lifetime journey. Relying on their faith, a warm-hearted priest and their love of the game, the nine players and their coach embark on an incredible, record-breaking winning streak that leads them across the border to America, and all the way to the 1957 Little League World Series where a miracle will cement their place in history and change their lives forever. It’s the story of the film “The Perfect Game,” released nationwide today. We talk to director William Dear.

5:00 – Pope Benedict XVI: 5 Years Later
Today is Pope Benedict XVI’s 83rd birthday and Monday will mark the 5 year anniversary of his election to the Papacy. We have assembled a roundtable of guests to discuss the first 5 years of the reign of Benedict XVI. We look at his travels, his encyclicals, his reforms, the sex abuse scandal, and much much more. Our guests will be Kishore Jayabalan, Matthew Bunson, and others.