Today on Kresta - May 12, 2010

Talking about the Things That Matter Most on May 12

4:00 – Finalmente: Coming Into the Church
It was last October, the Red Mass, said on that first Sunday in October just before the opening of the Supreme Court on the first Monday. Hadley Arkes and his wife Judy were at the service at St. Matthew’s in Washington, and were on the way to the Hilton on Sixteenth Street for the lunch following the Mass. Suddenly, and happily, they were joined on the walk by Fr. Arne Panula, whom Hadley had met years ago at the Opus Dei house in New York. He had moved over to direct the chapel and programs at the Catholic Information Center at Fifteenth and K. In a bantering way, Fr. Arne confronted me: “You, the most notable figure at the threshold, never quite crossing it.” (Never actually coming into the Church.) “What’s holding you back?” Hadley dipped into the repertoire of Bert Lahr from the Wizard of Oz: “C-c-c courage! it’s what I haven’t got.” A few months later he was received into the Church. Hadley is with us to discuss his journey. He says - taking a line from Fr. Richard Neuhaus - it may be a story about, “How I became the Catholic I was.”

4:40 – A Report on Catholic Commencement Season / Marquette President Defends Catholic Identity
The U.S. bishops have stood publicly and in unison against Catholic honors for those who publicly and clearly oppose Catholic teaching, most dramatically in response to last year’s Notre Dame ceremony. So what happened this year? It appears that more than 95 percent of our Catholic college leaders this year have taken the high road, and Catholics should applaud that. For 17 years, the Cardinal Newman Society has encouraged the renewal of Catholic identity at Catholic colleges and universities. CNS has publicly identified Catholic institutions that choose commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients whose public actions and statements are contrary to key teachings of the Catholic Church. Recent years have seen a marked decline in these scandals, from 24 in 2006 to just nine this year. We review the commencement season with Newman Society President Patrick Reilly.

4:50 – Real Protection in a Hook-Up World: What Every Parent Needs to Know
If you think sex education is still about the birds and the bees, you're wrong. And it's not about science either. If you're a parent with children in the public school system, you need to know what's really going on. Dr. Miriam Grossman, M.D. rips back the curtain on sex education today, exposing a sordid truth. She is here to discuss real protection in a hook-up world – what every parent needs to know.

5:00 – Direct to my Desk – The Most Influential People in the World
TIME magazine recently released its list of the 100 most influential people in the world. If you were to believe TIME – the most important people in the world are athletes, musicians, politicians, and TV and movie stars. NOT A SINGLE RELIGIOUS LEADER, of ANY faith. We want to make our own list. The “Kresta in the Afternoon” most influential people. And you get to name 15 of them. Al gets five, you get the rest. So think outside the box and be prepared to call.