Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" - May 15, 2013

Talking about the "things that matter most" on May 15

4:00 – Clinton, Obama and What Should Have Happened as Benghazi Unfolded.
Democratic politicos, the press, and the liberal punditocracy have decried the “witch hunt” over Benghazi.  But this “witch hunt” --  more properly called the responsible exercise of checks and balances in our government -- is rooted in what is the almost inexplicable and ongoing efforts of the Obama administration to obfuscate what happened in Libya on that terrible day of September 11, 2012. Foreign affairs expert Danielle Pletka looks at what should have happened in the days after Sept 11, 2012.

4:20 – Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter
Drawing on the wisdom gleaned from thriving mega-churches and innovative business leaders while anchoring their vision in the Eucharistic center of Catholic faith, Fr. Michael White and lay associate Tom Corcoran present the compelling and inspiring story to how they brought their parish back to life. It’s a story of stopping everything and changing focus. When their parish reached a breaking point, Fr. Michael White and lay associate Tom Corcoran asked themselves how they could make the Church matter to Catholics, and they realized the answer was at the heart of the Gospel. Their faithful response not only tripled their weekend Mass attendance, but also yielded increased giving, flourishing ministries, and a vibrant, solidly Catholic spiritual revival. White and Corcoran invite all Catholic leaders to share the vision, borrow their strategies, and rebuild their own parishes. Fr. White joins us.

5:00 – IRS report shows why tea party scandal was almost inevitable
Lawmakers are sputtering with rage at revelations the IRS gave extra scrutiny to conservative organizations seeking nonprofit status during the last political campaign. The Treasury Department’s inspector general report touches on the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups from local tea party organizations to massive national conservative outfits run by leading party strategists in 2011 and 2012. It outlines ways the agency could better police itself from the inside moving forward. We talk to Lloyd Mayer, non-profit tax expert, from Notre Dame Law School.

5:20 – The Ear of the Heart: An Actress' Journey from Hollywood to Holy Vows
Dolores Hart stunned Hollywood in 1963, when after ten highly successful feature films, she chose to enter a contemplative monastery. Now, fifty years later, Mother Dolores gives this fascinating account of her life. Dolores was a bright and beautiful college student when she made her film debut with Elvis Presley in Paramount's 1957 Loving You. She also gave a Tony-nominated performance on Broadway. Born Dolores Hicks to a complicated and colorful Chicago family, Mother Hart has traveled a charmed yet challenging road in her journey toward God, serenity and, yes, love. She entered the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Conn., at the peak of her career, not in order to leave the glamorous world of acting she had dreamed of since childhood, but in order to answer a mysterious summons she heard with the "ear of the heart". While contracted for another film and engaged to be married, she gave up everything to become a bride of Christ. Mother Dolores Hart joins us.