Today on Kresta - January 20, 2011

Talking about the "things that matter most" on Jan. 20

4:00 - Changing the Mood: Two Inaugurals—JFK and Reagan
Today marks the anniversary of two unforgettable inaugural addresses from two beloved presidents, Democrat and Republican: John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. For Kennedy’s speech, this is the golden anniversary, 50 years; for Reagan, 30 years. In both inaugurals, there was no mistaking the message, or the mood that followed. Both initiated a profound, palpable, quite immediate change in the nation’s morale and sense of itself. The shift was dramatic. Of course, it wasn’t just the speeches that made the difference, but the men who made them, with the inaugurals their starting points. We talk with Paul Kengor about how these two speeches changed the mood in America.

4:20 – The Anglican Ordinariate Begins To Take Shape
In Westminster Cathedral, on New Year’s Day, three former Anglican Bishops were quietly received into full communion with the Catholic Church. It was not done with great fanfare, but it marks the start of something important: the Anglican Ordinariate in the Catholic Church. The Ordinariate will face many challenges and problems at first. What churches will be available for Ordinariate use? How many people will actually join this new venture? Will not the lure of old familiar things in the end prove stronger than the longing for unity with Rome and the reality of communion with the worldwide Church? What financial provision can be made for the married clergy and their families? British Catholic journalist Joanna Bogle joins us to answer some of these questions.

4:40 – Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Christians are called to be instruments of God’s steadfast and reconciling love in a world marked by various kinds of separation and alienation. Baptized in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and professing faith in the crucified and risen Christ, we are a people who belong to Christ, a people sent forth to be Christ’s body in and for the world. Christ prayed for this for his disciples: may they be one, so that the world may believe. We talk about the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that we are celebrating this week with our Chaplain Fr. Pat Egan.

5:00 - Direct to My Desk – Give to Street People? Or Not?
Everyone panhandler asking for a handout is an immeasurably precious person made in the image of God whom we are all called to love. But is a quick donation, at best, cheap love? Or should we remember that Jesus ministered to social outcasts and the undeserving on numerous occasions, so why don't we? We look at whether Christians should always give money to street people who ask for it.