Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Today on Kresta - April 21, 2010
Talking about the Things That Matter Most on April 21
"Best of Kresta in the Afternoon" this week as Al and Nick participate in the Ave Maria Radio Membership Drive, necessary to keep programs like "Kresta in the Afternoon" on the air and distributed to over 150 stations across the country. If you can financially support the program, please go to http://www.avemariaradio.net/ and make your pledge!!!
4:00 – Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance
Many Christians find themselves struggling with a particular sin or dysfunction. They seek counseling, practice confession, and pursue God-centered lives, yet still these genuine believers feel hopeless in finding freedom. Could they be under the influence of evil spirits? Yes, says author Neal Lozano. He reveals Satan's strategies and the sneaky "entrance points" Satan finds to get a toehold in a Christian's life. He helps us acknowledge the doors they may have opened to evil influence, and shows them how to close those doors and walk in God's freedom and abundance. Lozano's focus on God and his work in the believer's life, not on intimidating aspects of evil spirits, gives this book a balanced and hopeful tone. Because deliverance is part of the ongoing, glorious work of the Holy Spirit, he outlines a plan for tapping into the potent power of the gospel. Neal joins us.
4:30 – The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity
How does Jesus fulfill over three hundred Old Testament Prophecies? Is Catholicism inherently Anti-Semitic? Do the Hebrew Scriptures accurately predict Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah? How does Jewish thinking presuppose devotion to Mary? Is the Catholic Church a fulfillment of historic Israel? How do Jewish water rituals relate to Catholic baptism? Is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass a Passover meal? Should the Catholic priesthood conform to the priesthood established by Moses? How has the Jewish Temple influenced traditional Christian architecture? Does the Pope wear a yarmulke? We answer these questions and more with Taylor Marshall, author of The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity.
5:00 – A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement
Over the past thirty years, as Wesley J. Smith details in his latest book, the concept of animal rights has been seeping into the very bone marrow of Western culture. One reason for this development is that the term “animal rights” is so often used very loosely, to mean simply being nicer to animals. But although animal rights groups do sometimes focus their activism on promoting animal welfare, the larger movement they represent is actually advancing a radical belief system. For some activists, the animal rights ideology amounts to a quasi religion, one whose central doctrine declares a moral equivalency between the value of animal lives and the value of human lives. Some believe their cause to be so righteous that it entitles them to cross the line from legitimate advocacy to vandalism and harassment, or even terrorism against medical researchers, the fur and food industries, and others they accuse of abusing animals. All people who love animals and recognize their intrinsic worth can agree that human beings owe animals respect, kindness, and humane care. But Smith argues eloquently that our obligation to humanity matters more, and that granting “rights” to animals would inevitably diminish human dignity. We discuss it.
"Best of Kresta in the Afternoon" this week as Al and Nick participate in the Ave Maria Radio Membership Drive, necessary to keep programs like "Kresta in the Afternoon" on the air and distributed to over 150 stations across the country. If you can financially support the program, please go to http://www.avemariaradio.net/ and make your pledge!!!
4:00 – Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance
Many Christians find themselves struggling with a particular sin or dysfunction. They seek counseling, practice confession, and pursue God-centered lives, yet still these genuine believers feel hopeless in finding freedom. Could they be under the influence of evil spirits? Yes, says author Neal Lozano. He reveals Satan's strategies and the sneaky "entrance points" Satan finds to get a toehold in a Christian's life. He helps us acknowledge the doors they may have opened to evil influence, and shows them how to close those doors and walk in God's freedom and abundance. Lozano's focus on God and his work in the believer's life, not on intimidating aspects of evil spirits, gives this book a balanced and hopeful tone. Because deliverance is part of the ongoing, glorious work of the Holy Spirit, he outlines a plan for tapping into the potent power of the gospel. Neal joins us.
4:30 – The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity
How does Jesus fulfill over three hundred Old Testament Prophecies? Is Catholicism inherently Anti-Semitic? Do the Hebrew Scriptures accurately predict Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah? How does Jewish thinking presuppose devotion to Mary? Is the Catholic Church a fulfillment of historic Israel? How do Jewish water rituals relate to Catholic baptism? Is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass a Passover meal? Should the Catholic priesthood conform to the priesthood established by Moses? How has the Jewish Temple influenced traditional Christian architecture? Does the Pope wear a yarmulke? We answer these questions and more with Taylor Marshall, author of The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity.
5:00 – A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement
Over the past thirty years, as Wesley J. Smith details in his latest book, the concept of animal rights has been seeping into the very bone marrow of Western culture. One reason for this development is that the term “animal rights” is so often used very loosely, to mean simply being nicer to animals. But although animal rights groups do sometimes focus their activism on promoting animal welfare, the larger movement they represent is actually advancing a radical belief system. For some activists, the animal rights ideology amounts to a quasi religion, one whose central doctrine declares a moral equivalency between the value of animal lives and the value of human lives. Some believe their cause to be so righteous that it entitles them to cross the line from legitimate advocacy to vandalism and harassment, or even terrorism against medical researchers, the fur and food industries, and others they accuse of abusing animals. All people who love animals and recognize their intrinsic worth can agree that human beings owe animals respect, kindness, and humane care. But Smith argues eloquently that our obligation to humanity matters more, and that granting “rights” to animals would inevitably diminish human dignity. We discuss it.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Kresta Commentary: Why 64% of Americans Believe Catholic Priests are Perverts
The Catholic Church and Sexual Abuse: Part One: Why 64% of Americans Believe Catholic Priests are Perverts.
April 20, 2010
Al Kresta
A new round of reporting on Catholic clergy sexual abuse in Europe has generated a new climate of revulsion toward the Catholic Church. In spite of, I suppose some would say, because of, all the media attention, however, the public has a grossly distorted picture of clergy sexual misconduct. No one denies that great evil has been done by the likes of John Geoghan, Paul Shanley, John Birmingham, and Marciel Maciel Dellgado and a thousand others. Not to mention the shocking neglect of authorities like now Bishop John B. McCormack and Cardinal Law.
The Dallas Morning News claimed that two thirds of sitting U.S. bishops were alleged in 2002 to have kept accused priests in ministry or moved accused priests to new assignments. [The article is presently under critical review by bishopsaccountability.org.] However, of the 109 bishops identified in the Dallas Morning News survey, only 39 are still managing the same diocese. Of the others, eleven have retired or resigned. That means nearly two-thirds have been moved. Seven U.S. dioceses have declared bankruptcy and others are in financial crisis. Nevertheless, the evil is not as widespread, as current, or as threatening as imagined in a 2002 Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll which found that 64 percent of those queried thought Catholic priests "frequently'' abused children.
First of all, hardly anyone seems to have noticed that clerical sexual abuse is not growing in the Catholic Church. The sheer volume of press reports mislead us into thinking that the scandal is widening while the reality is that it has been shrinking for a quarter of a century.
I just went to my homepage. There I read a headline: "Catholic priest arrested in molestation case". I'm ready to run to the parish, protect my child, and reduce the bodily integrity of the perpetrator. But I'd win no thanks for vigilante justice because I'm thirty years too late. Yes, the crime and the headline are all too terrible and typical. Here's the lead: "A retired Roman Catholic priest has been charged with first-degree sex offense and crime against nature after allegations were made that he sexually assaulted a boy from his Kingsport parish more than 30 years ago."
Old cases still make sensational headlines. E.g., "Norway's Catholic Church Reveals New Abuse Cases" But Norway doesn't have new cases. The church disclosed 4 old cases that had previously been overlooked. Two from the 1950s; one from the 1980s and another which remains based on rumors. What was new was that the press finally learned of these cases at all.
Delayed reporting by the victims has compounded this lag time between the criminal acts and the public awareness. Indeed, some bishops ignored accusations and failed to report them in a timely manner, no doubt fearing lawsuits and scandal. They neglected the pastoral care of victims and the public's right to know the danger represented by certain priests.
But delayed media reporting wasn't generally due to episcopal foot-dragging. The victims, themselves, postponed reporting their abuse! Less than thirteen percent of victims abused between 1960 and 1980, for example, lodged a complaint in the same year as the assault. Two thirds filed their complaints after 1992, and half of those were made between 2002 and 2003 alone! This means that the media has been covering old news and, understandably but unfortunately, creating a climate of suspicion years after the abuse had been perpetrated. Thanks to reforms instituted by the USCCB, the Catholic Church in America today is the safest private or public institution for children.
This is beyond dispute. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice has shown repeatedly that the vast majority of the abuse cases took place from the mid-60s to the mid-80s. And the reports over the last five years show a rapid decline. The latest report, covering 2008-2009, shows exactly six credible allegations.
How many Catholic clergy serve in the United States? Forty thousand priests, twenty one thousand permanent deacons and religious brothers and tens of thousands of other Catholic Church workers. Amidst all these eighty or ninety thousand American clergy and lay workers only six credible allegations were lodged in 2008-2009. Once again, note the historical flow. The known number of cases increased in the 1960s, peaked in the 1970s, declined in the 1980s and by the 1990s had returned to the levels of the 1950s. One case of abuse is one too many and worth a millstone or worse but it is time to say that the American clerical sex abuse crisis is over.
So why don't people know this? Last month the USCCB posted the new figures on its website but the press had caught the scent of sin and crime in Europe. Old wounds got re-opened and, it is a general rule of journalism that bad news always displaces good news. Further, how many people bother to plod through the tedium of a sociologist's analysis?
By the way, how many priests have engaged in sexual misconduct with minors? The John Jay College of Criminal Justice estimated that about 4% of priests were involved-- about the same as in other institutions although no other institution has been so rigorously studied or has such kept such thorough records over generations. An article in the Journal of Pastoral Psychology by Thomas Plante and Courtney Daniels doesn't see any greater problem among Catholic clergy. Newsweek quotes Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: "We don't see the Catholic Church as a hotbed of this or a place that has a bigger problem than anyone else," Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi in September 2009 stated on behalf of the Holy See: "We know now that in the last 50 years somewhere between 1.5% and 5% of the Catholic clergy has been involved in sexual abuse cases." There are other surveys and studies with similar conclusions: See here and here.
According to a recent Newsweek article, "Since the mid-1980s, insurance companies have offered sexual misconduct coverage as a rider on liability insurance, and their own studies indicate that Catholic churches are not higher risk than other congregations."
Catholic activist scholar Leon Podles, author of Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church places the figure at 7-10% on the grounds that most abuse goes unreported and thus many priest-perpetrators go undiscovered. Perhaps, but this reporting flaw would apply to all institutions. Abuse would be under-reported everywhere. We also know that some priests were more profligate than others.. Overall, the John Jay study found that 149 priests were responsible for more than 2,900 cases of abuse over the 52-year period studied. Roughly, three percent of the accused were responsible for about 36% of the accusations.
Another misconception: Strictly speaking there are almost no pedophile priests. Only 1% of the cases involve pre-pubescent children. The majority of cases involve adults engaging in criminal sexual contact with adolescent boys. This is more accurately described as either hebephilia (younger adolescents) or ephebophilia (older adolescents). Criminal and immoral behavior yes but pederasty doesn't carry quite the disgust associated with pedophilia.
Second, priest sex abuse is treated not as an individual but as an institutional problem. For instance, CBS News.com reported: "The FBI says it expects to arrest at least fifty more people by week's end as it busts up an Internet child-pornography ring that allegedly included two Catholic priests, six other members of the clergy, a school bus driver, and at least one police officer." I am not interested in bringing discredit on Presbyterians or Baptists or Lutherans but why among the eight clergy only Catholic priests are identified by their ecclesiastical affiliation?
The same day that the Associated Press reported that the archbishop of Santiago, Chile had launched an investigation of a few cases of priestly sexual abuse, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights tipped the AP off about other cases of sexual abuse. For instance,
• A Milford, Connecticut teacher's aide pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting a high school student
• A Brookville High School teacher in Pennsylvania was charged with aggravated indecent assault, indecent exposure, corruption of minor, possession of obscene material, sexual abuse of children, and unlawful conduct with minors.
• A middle school gym teacher in Athens , New Your was arrested on charges of sex abuse and forcible touching
• A Morrisville-Easton Central School District teacher outside Utica, New York Was arrested for forcibly touching a girl over a three year period, beginning at the age of 11, and for endangering her welfare.....
• A former Teacher of the Year in Bullitt County, Kentucky was indicted by a grand jury on sexual abuse charges.
• A teacher at Olin High School in Iowa was charged with sexually exploiting a freshman. This same teacher faced similar charges two years ago when he taught in another school, and was simply moved from one school district to another.
The AP choose only to cover the archdiocese of Santiago because it fit the hot storyline of a corrupt institution getting its comeuppance while all the teacher examples are simply individual teachers bound together by their jobs and perversions but not embedded in a large, universal, mysterious institution that by refusing to ordain women, relax celibacy and applaud homosexuality defies the flow of modern life. The Catholic church is "other" to most Americans; public school teachers, on the other hand, are familiar and friendly to all of us.
Still, we can't take much pride that the church's personnel appear no worse than boy scout leaders or public school teachers. Shouldn't we expect more? Shouldn't the Catholic Church be held to a higher standard? Yes, certainly, by the faithful who believe but not by the press which doesn't. I don't expect the New York Times and the Associated Press to do apologetics for the Catholic Church. I do expect them to compare institutions and to evenhandedly handle the data. A reporter may not like the Church's teaching on artificial contraception but that doesn't give him a license to spawn misconceptions and distort the truth. Heaping inaccuracy upon the flames of moral indignation only sears the conscience of all involved.
Coming Later This Week
The Catholic Church and Sex Abuse: Part II - The Vatican, Public Relations, and Sheer Incompetence
April 20, 2010
Al Kresta
A new round of reporting on Catholic clergy sexual abuse in Europe has generated a new climate of revulsion toward the Catholic Church. In spite of, I suppose some would say, because of, all the media attention, however, the public has a grossly distorted picture of clergy sexual misconduct. No one denies that great evil has been done by the likes of John Geoghan, Paul Shanley, John Birmingham, and Marciel Maciel Dellgado and a thousand others. Not to mention the shocking neglect of authorities like now Bishop John B. McCormack and Cardinal Law. First of all, hardly anyone seems to have noticed that clerical sexual abuse is not growing in the Catholic Church. The sheer volume of press reports mislead us into thinking that the scandal is widening while the reality is that it has been shrinking for a quarter of a century.
I just went to my homepage. There I read a headline: "Catholic priest arrested in molestation case". I'm ready to run to the parish, protect my child, and reduce the bodily integrity of the perpetrator. But I'd win no thanks for vigilante justice because I'm thirty years too late. Yes, the crime and the headline are all too terrible and typical. Here's the lead: "A retired Roman Catholic priest has been charged with first-degree sex offense and crime against nature after allegations were made that he sexually assaulted a boy from his Kingsport parish more than 30 years ago."
Old cases still make sensational headlines. E.g., "Norway's Catholic Church Reveals New Abuse Cases" But Norway doesn't have new cases. The church disclosed 4 old cases that had previously been overlooked. Two from the 1950s; one from the 1980s and another which remains based on rumors. What was new was that the press finally learned of these cases at all.
But delayed media reporting wasn't generally due to episcopal foot-dragging. The victims, themselves, postponed reporting their abuse! Less than thirteen percent of victims abused between 1960 and 1980, for example, lodged a complaint in the same year as the assault. Two thirds filed their complaints after 1992, and half of those were made between 2002 and 2003 alone! This means that the media has been covering old news and, understandably but unfortunately, creating a climate of suspicion years after the abuse had been perpetrated. Thanks to reforms instituted by the USCCB, the Catholic Church in America today is the safest private or public institution for children.
This is beyond dispute. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice has shown repeatedly that the vast majority of the abuse cases took place from the mid-60s to the mid-80s. And the reports over the last five years show a rapid decline. The latest report, covering 2008-2009, shows exactly six credible allegations.
How many Catholic clergy serve in the United States? Forty thousand priests, twenty one thousand permanent deacons and religious brothers and tens of thousands of other Catholic Church workers. Amidst all these eighty or ninety thousand American clergy and lay workers only six credible allegations were lodged in 2008-2009. Once again, note the historical flow. The known number of cases increased in the 1960s, peaked in the 1970s, declined in the 1980s and by the 1990s had returned to the levels of the 1950s. One case of abuse is one too many and worth a millstone or worse but it is time to say that the American clerical sex abuse crisis is over.
So why don't people know this? Last month the USCCB posted the new figures on its website but the press had caught the scent of sin and crime in Europe. Old wounds got re-opened and, it is a general rule of journalism that bad news always displaces good news. Further, how many people bother to plod through the tedium of a sociologist's analysis?
By the way, how many priests have engaged in sexual misconduct with minors? The John Jay College of Criminal Justice estimated that about 4% of priests were involved-- about the same as in other institutions although no other institution has been so rigorously studied or has such kept such thorough records over generations. An article in the Journal of Pastoral Psychology by Thomas Plante and Courtney Daniels doesn't see any greater problem among Catholic clergy. Newsweek quotes Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: "We don't see the Catholic Church as a hotbed of this or a place that has a bigger problem than anyone else," Archbishop Silvano Maria Tomasi in September 2009 stated on behalf of the Holy See: "We know now that in the last 50 years somewhere between 1.5% and 5% of the Catholic clergy has been involved in sexual abuse cases." There are other surveys and studies with similar conclusions: See here and here.
According to a recent Newsweek article, "Since the mid-1980s, insurance companies have offered sexual misconduct coverage as a rider on liability insurance, and their own studies indicate that Catholic churches are not higher risk than other congregations."
Another misconception: Strictly speaking there are almost no pedophile priests. Only 1% of the cases involve pre-pubescent children. The majority of cases involve adults engaging in criminal sexual contact with adolescent boys. This is more accurately described as either hebephilia (younger adolescents) or ephebophilia (older adolescents). Criminal and immoral behavior yes but pederasty doesn't carry quite the disgust associated with pedophilia.
Second, priest sex abuse is treated not as an individual but as an institutional problem. For instance, CBS News.com reported: "The FBI says it expects to arrest at least fifty more people by week's end as it busts up an Internet child-pornography ring that allegedly included two Catholic priests, six other members of the clergy, a school bus driver, and at least one police officer." I am not interested in bringing discredit on Presbyterians or Baptists or Lutherans but why among the eight clergy only Catholic priests are identified by their ecclesiastical affiliation?
• A Milford, Connecticut teacher's aide pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting a high school student
• A Brookville High School teacher in Pennsylvania was charged with aggravated indecent assault, indecent exposure, corruption of minor, possession of obscene material, sexual abuse of children, and unlawful conduct with minors.
• A middle school gym teacher in Athens , New Your was arrested on charges of sex abuse and forcible touching
• A Morrisville-Easton Central School District teacher outside Utica, New York Was arrested for forcibly touching a girl over a three year period, beginning at the age of 11, and for endangering her welfare.....
• A former Teacher of the Year in Bullitt County, Kentucky was indicted by a grand jury on sexual abuse charges.
• A teacher at Olin High School in Iowa was charged with sexually exploiting a freshman. This same teacher faced similar charges two years ago when he taught in another school, and was simply moved from one school district to another.
The AP choose only to cover the archdiocese of Santiago because it fit the hot storyline of a corrupt institution getting its comeuppance while all the teacher examples are simply individual teachers bound together by their jobs and perversions but not embedded in a large, universal, mysterious institution that by refusing to ordain women, relax celibacy and applaud homosexuality defies the flow of modern life. The Catholic church is "other" to most Americans; public school teachers, on the other hand, are familiar and friendly to all of us.
Still, we can't take much pride that the church's personnel appear no worse than boy scout leaders or public school teachers. Shouldn't we expect more? Shouldn't the Catholic Church be held to a higher standard? Yes, certainly, by the faithful who believe but not by the press which doesn't. I don't expect the New York Times and the Associated Press to do apologetics for the Catholic Church. I do expect them to compare institutions and to evenhandedly handle the data. A reporter may not like the Church's teaching on artificial contraception but that doesn't give him a license to spawn misconceptions and distort the truth. Heaping inaccuracy upon the flames of moral indignation only sears the conscience of all involved.
Coming Later This Week
The Catholic Church and Sex Abuse: Part II - The Vatican, Public Relations, and Sheer Incompetence
Today on Kresta - April 20, 2010
Talking about the "things that matter most" on Apr. 20
"Best of Kresta in the Afternoon" this week as Al and Nick participate in the Ave Maria Radio Membership Drive, necessary to keep programs like "Kresta in the Afternoon" on the air and distributed to over 150 stations across the country. If you can financially support the program, please go to http://www.avemariaradio.net/ and make your pledge!!!
4:00 – Dialogue of Love: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic Ecumenist
The Dialogue of Love is written from the perspective of an evangelical Catholic Ecumenist. Raised Catholic, but having responded to the Gospel at L'Abri Fellowship in 1970, Eduardo J. Echeverria's journey took the paths of Reformed and then Anglo-Catholic Christianity on his way back to full communion with the Catholic Church in 1992. Engaging in ecumenical conversation as a committed Roman Catholic whose views have been shaped by, among others, Romano Guardini, John Paul II, and Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), the author discusses in an articulate, bracing, and constructive manner, the positions of representative thinkers in the Dutch neo-Calvinist tradition of Reformed Christianity: Herman Bavinck, G. C. Berkouwer, and Herman Dooyeweerd. Fundamental issues of ecclesiology, meaning and truth, sacramental theology, the relation between the Church and the world, nature and grace, and issues on the relation of faith and reason are examined with the aim of achieving clarification and understanding. Readers will experience ecumenical "Dialogue . . . not simply [as] an exchange of ideas," but also as "an 'exchange of gifts'," indeed, "a dialogue of love" (John Paul II).
5:00 – Tiger Woods and Plato
The Tiger Woods scandal recently returned to the news when Tiger played the Masters Golf Tournament. While many may have welcomed this sordid story’s earlier disappearance, it in fact deserves serious consideration because of what it says about our culture and, in fact, about our very humanity. So far, commentary on possible deeper meanings of the Woods scandal has focused on matters such as our preoccupation with celebrity and the possibility, in a modern media age, of crafting a public personality wholly at odds with one’s real character. As a student and teacher of political philosophy, however, Woods’s sad fall from respectability reminds Carson Holloway of Plato’s account of the human soul. What we have learned about Tiger Woods, combined with what we already knew about him, may not confirm the truth of Plato’s psychology, but it at least confirms its relevance to the human situation even today. Paradoxically, from this most contemporary downfall we learn that our civilization’s most ancient wisdom is still worthy of our careful consideration. Carson joins us.
5:20 – Post-abortive Testimony
Michelle Yax is the Director of Mother and Unborn Baby Care in Southfield, MI and is, herself, a post-abortive woman. The shock, fear and shame of her first pregnancy drove her to her abortion, Yax says. Until the day of abortion, she had only thought about herself. But when she climbed upon the operating table, she changed. Everything inside me was screaming, “This is wrong. This is so wrong,’” Yax says. Michelle is with us to share her story.
"Best of Kresta in the Afternoon" this week as Al and Nick participate in the Ave Maria Radio Membership Drive, necessary to keep programs like "Kresta in the Afternoon" on the air and distributed to over 150 stations across the country. If you can financially support the program, please go to http://www.avemariaradio.net/ and make your pledge!!!
4:00 – Dialogue of Love: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic Ecumenist
The Dialogue of Love is written from the perspective of an evangelical Catholic Ecumenist. Raised Catholic, but having responded to the Gospel at L'Abri Fellowship in 1970, Eduardo J. Echeverria's journey took the paths of Reformed and then Anglo-Catholic Christianity on his way back to full communion with the Catholic Church in 1992. Engaging in ecumenical conversation as a committed Roman Catholic whose views have been shaped by, among others, Romano Guardini, John Paul II, and Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI), the author discusses in an articulate, bracing, and constructive manner, the positions of representative thinkers in the Dutch neo-Calvinist tradition of Reformed Christianity: Herman Bavinck, G. C. Berkouwer, and Herman Dooyeweerd. Fundamental issues of ecclesiology, meaning and truth, sacramental theology, the relation between the Church and the world, nature and grace, and issues on the relation of faith and reason are examined with the aim of achieving clarification and understanding. Readers will experience ecumenical "Dialogue . . . not simply [as] an exchange of ideas," but also as "an 'exchange of gifts'," indeed, "a dialogue of love" (John Paul II).
5:00 – Tiger Woods and Plato
The Tiger Woods scandal recently returned to the news when Tiger played the Masters Golf Tournament. While many may have welcomed this sordid story’s earlier disappearance, it in fact deserves serious consideration because of what it says about our culture and, in fact, about our very humanity. So far, commentary on possible deeper meanings of the Woods scandal has focused on matters such as our preoccupation with celebrity and the possibility, in a modern media age, of crafting a public personality wholly at odds with one’s real character. As a student and teacher of political philosophy, however, Woods’s sad fall from respectability reminds Carson Holloway of Plato’s account of the human soul. What we have learned about Tiger Woods, combined with what we already knew about him, may not confirm the truth of Plato’s psychology, but it at least confirms its relevance to the human situation even today. Paradoxically, from this most contemporary downfall we learn that our civilization’s most ancient wisdom is still worthy of our careful consideration. Carson joins us.
5:20 – Post-abortive Testimony
Michelle Yax is the Director of Mother and Unborn Baby Care in Southfield, MI and is, herself, a post-abortive woman. The shock, fear and shame of her first pregnancy drove her to her abortion, Yax says. Until the day of abortion, she had only thought about herself. But when she climbed upon the operating table, she changed. Everything inside me was screaming, “This is wrong. This is so wrong,’” Yax says. Michelle is with us to share her story.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Words from Fr. Riccardo
Fr. John Riccardo brings us some bold words about Truth and the Ave Maria Radio membership drive.
Click here if you don't see the video.
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If you would like to contribute to the Ave Maria Radio spring membership drive just go to
AvemariaRadio.net
or click the "Pledge drive" link on the left side of the blog to make a pledge today. You can also help us by spreading this video around to your family and friends. Link it on facebook or post it to your blog.
We thank you for your effort and your prayers. God Bless you!
Click here if you don't see the video.
--------
If you would like to contribute to the Ave Maria Radio spring membership drive just go to
AvemariaRadio.net
or click the "Pledge drive" link on the left side of the blog to make a pledge today. You can also help us by spreading this video around to your family and friends. Link it on facebook or post it to your blog.
We thank you for your effort and your prayers. God Bless you!
Today on Kresta - April 19, 2010
Talking about the "things that matter most" on April 19
"Best of Kresta in the Afternoon" this week as Al and Nick participate in the Ave Maria Radio Membership Drive, necessary to keep programs like "Kresta in the Afternoon" on the air and distributed to over 150 stations across the country. If you can financially support the program, please go to www.avemariaradio.net and make your pledge!!!
4:00 – Sin: A History
What is sin? Is it simply wrongdoing? Why do its effects linger over time? In this sensitive, imaginative, and original work, Gary Anderson shows how changing conceptions of sin and forgiveness lay at the very heart of the biblical tradition. Spanning nearly two thousand years, he brilliantly demonstrates how sin, once conceived of as a physical burden, becomes, over time, eclipsed by economic metaphors. Transformed from a weight that an individual carried, sin becomes a debt that must be repaid in order to be redeemed in God’s eyes. We look at Sin: A History.
4:40 – Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World
Chris Lowney is here to discuss a unique guide for leaders of all kinds, drawn from the experiences of one of the world’s most successful organizations. Chris offers leadership lessons from the Jesuits, the renowned religious order whose originality and expertise have stirred admiration for nearly five centuries.
5:00 – The Virtues: Practical Application to Everyday Life
A virtue approach to life is centered on Christ. Life in Christ is, in fact, the life of the theological and cardinal virtues. Therefore, what we are seeking is a share in Christ's virtues. It is not about promoting autonomous personal achievements of character, but life in Christ and love for Christ. This approach draws on a very rich tradition already present in the Church about the virtues – in scripture and in writings of the Fathers, Saints, Popes, philosophers and theologians. We are not perfect in our ability to understand and impart all that the Church knows about the virtues, but we have the good fortune of being able to continually return to its expertise in order to learn more. We talk to Gerry Rauch of Sacred Heart Major Seminary about a “virtue approach” to life.
"Best of Kresta in the Afternoon" this week as Al and Nick participate in the Ave Maria Radio Membership Drive, necessary to keep programs like "Kresta in the Afternoon" on the air and distributed to over 150 stations across the country. If you can financially support the program, please go to www.avemariaradio.net and make your pledge!!!
4:00 – Sin: A History
What is sin? Is it simply wrongdoing? Why do its effects linger over time? In this sensitive, imaginative, and original work, Gary Anderson shows how changing conceptions of sin and forgiveness lay at the very heart of the biblical tradition. Spanning nearly two thousand years, he brilliantly demonstrates how sin, once conceived of as a physical burden, becomes, over time, eclipsed by economic metaphors. Transformed from a weight that an individual carried, sin becomes a debt that must be repaid in order to be redeemed in God’s eyes. We look at Sin: A History.
4:40 – Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450-Year-Old Company That Changed the World
Chris Lowney is here to discuss a unique guide for leaders of all kinds, drawn from the experiences of one of the world’s most successful organizations. Chris offers leadership lessons from the Jesuits, the renowned religious order whose originality and expertise have stirred admiration for nearly five centuries.
5:00 – The Virtues: Practical Application to Everyday Life
A virtue approach to life is centered on Christ. Life in Christ is, in fact, the life of the theological and cardinal virtues. Therefore, what we are seeking is a share in Christ's virtues. It is not about promoting autonomous personal achievements of character, but life in Christ and love for Christ. This approach draws on a very rich tradition already present in the Church about the virtues – in scripture and in writings of the Fathers, Saints, Popes, philosophers and theologians. We are not perfect in our ability to understand and impart all that the Church knows about the virtues, but we have the good fortune of being able to continually return to its expertise in order to learn more. We talk to Gerry Rauch of Sacred Heart Major Seminary about a “virtue approach” to life.
Ave Maria Radio Spring Membership Drive!!!
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This week is the annual Ave Maria Radio Spring Membership Drive to raise the funds necessary to keep programs like "Kresta in the Afternoon" on the air and distributed to over 150 stations across the country. Therefore, Al and Nick will not be as active on the blog this week and the show will be "best of" for all of our affiliates. If you can financially support the program, please go to http://www.avemariaradio.net/ and make your pledge!!! We will be updating the blog every day with the "best of" program schedules and pertinent news. And of course the cartoon and outrageous statement of the day.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Christopher West Taking a Sabbatical
The sabbatical from teaching and travel was for “personal and professional renewal,” a press release from the Institute says.
“Christopher is taking this leave to attend to family needs, and to reflect more deeply on fraternal and spiritual guidance he has received in order to continue developing his methodology and praxis as it relates to the promulgation of the Theology of the Body,” the statement continues.
The Theology of the Body Institute said it regrets the interruption to upcoming 2010 events but reported that it will continue its education and outreach programs and offer other faculty members and instructors during West’s sabbatical.
After a controversial ABC interview last year, West became a center of criticism for his interpretation and presentation of Pope John Paul II’s teachings on sexuality, popularly known as the Theology of the Body.
His defenders see him as a speaker capable of reaching today’s youth with Church teaching.
His critics have voiced concern about his discretion in speaking about sensitive topics in ways that might arouse unwholesome curiosity. They said his emphasis on purity of intention in human love risks ignoring the dangers of man's tendency towards sin
Outrageous Statement of the Day
Reporting on a tea party rally, NBC News reporter Kelly O'Donnell, a white woman, told Darryl Postell, a black man attending the rally, “There aren't a lot of African-American men at these events.” Pressing him, in an exchange she chose to include in her NBC Nightly News story, to address her prejudiced assumptions: “Have you ever felt uncomfortable?” Watch the video below
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.
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.
Dawkins Downfall ("Arrest The Pope" Edition)
This video was sent to us this morning and is hilarious. The producers have disallowed embedding, so when you hit play on this video it will take to you youtube to play it, but it's well worth your 3 minutes. Enjoy!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Vatican's Medjugorje commission meets
While the Vatican press office provided no details about the meeting, it published the names of the commission members April 13.
The Vatican had announced March 17 that at the request of the bishops of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had established an international commission to investigate the claims of six young people who said Mary appeared to them daily beginning in 1981.
Although the apparitions apparently are continuing and thousands of people travel to the small town each month to meet the alleged seers and to pray, the Catholic Church has never made a formal declaration about the authenticity of the apparitions.
The doctrinal congregation appointed retired Cardinal Camillo Ruini, former papal vicar of Rome, to head the commission.
The Vatican said the commission members include: Slovakian Cardinal Jozef Tomko, retired prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Spanish Cardinal Julian Herranz, retired president of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts; and Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes and former secretary of the doctrinal congregation.
The other commission members are: French Msgr. Tony Anatrella, a psychoanalyst; Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri, a theology professor in Milan, Italy; Franciscan Father David Jaeger, a canon lawyer; Conventual Franciscan Father Zdzislaw Jozef Kijas, an official at the Congregation for Saints' Causes; Marianist Father Salvatore M. Perrella, a professor of Mariology in Rome; and Father Achim Schutz, a professor of theological anthropology in Rome.
Polish Msgr. Krzysztof Nykiel, an official at the doctrinal congregation, was named secretary of the commission.
The four consultants assisting the commission are: Father Franjo Topic, a professor of theology in Sarajevo; Jesuit Father Mijo Nikic, professor of psychology at the Jesuit university in Zagreb, Croatia; Jesuit Father Mihaly Szentmartoni, a professor of spirituality in Rome; and Sister Veronika Nela Gaspar, a professor of theology in Rijeka, Croatia, and a member of the Daughters of Divine Charity.
Today on Kresta - April 15, 2010
Talking about the "things that matter most" on Apr. 15
4:00 – What the New Nuke Treaty Really Means
Laying out a nuclear weapons strategy for the decade ahead, President Obama this week struck bold notes on rhetoric and promises in the Nuclear Posture Review report issued Tuesday. The document is filled with laudable goals that mark a change from the past and may help advance his dream of a world without nukes. But flying at high altitude also has certain advantages; you can avoid the rough terrain below. And down on the ground, the president stopped short of changing the status quo on critical issues that have lingered since the Cold War, such as tactical nuclear weapons and keeping missiles on alert. All in all, says David Hoffman, the words of Obama's nuclear strategy bore the marks of his avowed goal to reduce the nuclear danger, but he eschewed taking more dramatic steps away from the legacy of the Cold War arms race. He is here to make his case.
4:20 – Young Souls: The Religious and Spiritual Lives Youth and Emerging Adults
How important is religion for young people in America today? What are the major influences on their developing spiritual lives? How do their religious beliefs and practices change as young people enter into adulthood? Christian Smith's research explores these questions and many others as it tells the definitive story of the religious and spiritual lives of youth and emerging adults, up to age 24, in the U.S. today. Some of Smith's findings are surprising. Parents turn out to be the single most important influence on the religious outcomes in the lives of young adults. On the other hand, teenage participation in evangelization missions and youth groups does not predict a high level of religiosity just a few years later. Moreover, the common wisdom that religiosity declines sharply during the young adult years is shown to be greatly exaggerated. Painstakingly researched and filled with remarkable findings, Dr. Smith’s work is essential reading for youth ministers, pastors, parents, teachers and students at church-related schools, and anyone who wishes to know how religious practice is affected by the transition into adulthood in America today.
5:00 – Abe Lincoln: The Father of Big Government?
There is a persistent rumor in the ether of talking heads that runs something like this: If we want to know who the “father” of big government in the United States is, point the finger at . . . Abraham Lincoln. Of course, it has been a long time since Abraham Lincoln was headline news, and most Americans will meet this with little more than a shrug of the shoulders. But there is a certain strain of conservative thinking today that gets its jollies from wailing that big government has been a slow-growing cancer in American life, so slow in fact that its origins need to be traced back to the 16th president. Whatever the motivation, they’ve got the wrong man in Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln scholar Alan Guelzo is here to make his case.
5:20 – Medjugorje: Why did the Vatican take the unprecedented step of creating a commission to study the alleged apparitions?
The Vatican commission studying the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina held its first meeting in late March. While the Vatican press office provided no details about the meeting, it published the names of the commission members this week. The Vatican had announced March 17 that at the request of the bishops of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had established an international commission to investigate the claims of six young people who said Mary appeared to them daily beginning in 1981. Although the apparitions apparently are continuing and thousands of people travel to the small town each month to meet the alleged seers and to pray, the Catholic Church has never made a formal declaration about the authenticity of the apparitions. The doctrinal congregation appointed retired Cardinal Camillo Ruini, former papal vicar of Rome, to head the commission. We look at why the Vatican took the unprecedented step of creating a commission to study the alleged apparitions?
4:00 – What the New Nuke Treaty Really Means
Laying out a nuclear weapons strategy for the decade ahead, President Obama this week struck bold notes on rhetoric and promises in the Nuclear Posture Review report issued Tuesday. The document is filled with laudable goals that mark a change from the past and may help advance his dream of a world without nukes. But flying at high altitude also has certain advantages; you can avoid the rough terrain below. And down on the ground, the president stopped short of changing the status quo on critical issues that have lingered since the Cold War, such as tactical nuclear weapons and keeping missiles on alert. All in all, says David Hoffman, the words of Obama's nuclear strategy bore the marks of his avowed goal to reduce the nuclear danger, but he eschewed taking more dramatic steps away from the legacy of the Cold War arms race. He is here to make his case.
4:20 – Young Souls: The Religious and Spiritual Lives Youth and Emerging Adults
How important is religion for young people in America today? What are the major influences on their developing spiritual lives? How do their religious beliefs and practices change as young people enter into adulthood? Christian Smith's research explores these questions and many others as it tells the definitive story of the religious and spiritual lives of youth and emerging adults, up to age 24, in the U.S. today. Some of Smith's findings are surprising. Parents turn out to be the single most important influence on the religious outcomes in the lives of young adults. On the other hand, teenage participation in evangelization missions and youth groups does not predict a high level of religiosity just a few years later. Moreover, the common wisdom that religiosity declines sharply during the young adult years is shown to be greatly exaggerated. Painstakingly researched and filled with remarkable findings, Dr. Smith’s work is essential reading for youth ministers, pastors, parents, teachers and students at church-related schools, and anyone who wishes to know how religious practice is affected by the transition into adulthood in America today.
5:00 – Abe Lincoln: The Father of Big Government?
There is a persistent rumor in the ether of talking heads that runs something like this: If we want to know who the “father” of big government in the United States is, point the finger at . . . Abraham Lincoln. Of course, it has been a long time since Abraham Lincoln was headline news, and most Americans will meet this with little more than a shrug of the shoulders. But there is a certain strain of conservative thinking today that gets its jollies from wailing that big government has been a slow-growing cancer in American life, so slow in fact that its origins need to be traced back to the 16th president. Whatever the motivation, they’ve got the wrong man in Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln scholar Alan Guelzo is here to make his case.
5:20 – Medjugorje: Why did the Vatican take the unprecedented step of creating a commission to study the alleged apparitions?
The Vatican commission studying the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina held its first meeting in late March. While the Vatican press office provided no details about the meeting, it published the names of the commission members this week. The Vatican had announced March 17 that at the request of the bishops of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had established an international commission to investigate the claims of six young people who said Mary appeared to them daily beginning in 1981. Although the apparitions apparently are continuing and thousands of people travel to the small town each month to meet the alleged seers and to pray, the Catholic Church has never made a formal declaration about the authenticity of the apparitions. The doctrinal congregation appointed retired Cardinal Camillo Ruini, former papal vicar of Rome, to head the commission. We look at why the Vatican took the unprecedented step of creating a commission to study the alleged apparitions?
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Today on Kresta - April 14, 2010
Talking about the "things that matter most" on Apr. 14
4:00-6:00 – Handel’s “Messiah” -- A Kresta Special Presentation
Messiah is an English oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel, and is one of the most popular works in the Western choral literature. The libretto by Charles Jennens is drawn entirely from the King James and Great Bibles, and interprets the Christian doctrine of the Messiah. Divided into three parts, the libretto covers the prophecies concerning the Christ, the birth, miracles, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and finally the End Times with the Christ's final victory over death and sin. Messiah, often incorrectly called The Messiah, is one of Handel's most famous works. Composed in London during the summer of 1741 and premiered in Dublin, Ireland on April 13, 1742, it was repeatedly revised by Handel, reaching its most familiar version in the performance to benefit the Foundling Hospital in 1754. In 1789 Mozart orchestrated a German version of the work, which was commonly heard until the mid-20th century and the rise of historically informed performance. We take time today to explore the music, theology, and scriptural basis of arguably the most famous sacred oratorio ever composed.
4:00-6:00 – Handel’s “Messiah” -- A Kresta Special Presentation
Messiah is an English oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel, and is one of the most popular works in the Western choral literature. The libretto by Charles Jennens is drawn entirely from the King James and Great Bibles, and interprets the Christian doctrine of the Messiah. Divided into three parts, the libretto covers the prophecies concerning the Christ, the birth, miracles, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and finally the End Times with the Christ's final victory over death and sin. Messiah, often incorrectly called The Messiah, is one of Handel's most famous works. Composed in London during the summer of 1741 and premiered in Dublin, Ireland on April 13, 1742, it was repeatedly revised by Handel, reaching its most familiar version in the performance to benefit the Foundling Hospital in 1754. In 1789 Mozart orchestrated a German version of the work, which was commonly heard until the mid-20th century and the rise of historically informed performance. We take time today to explore the music, theology, and scriptural basis of arguably the most famous sacred oratorio ever composed.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Today on Kresta - April 13, 2010
Talking about the "things that matter most" on Apr. 13
4:00 – Fablehaven
Fablehaven is a secret nature preserve protecting the beings of myth and legend from the outside world. The current caretaker, Stan Sorenson, describes it as “a refuge for mystical creatures”. Those who live in this large sanctuary, mortal and magical, must abide by a treaty of rules. The most common rules are focused upon “the law of the harvest” or “the law of retribution” meaning, you reap what you sow. Brandon Mull is the author of the bestselling Fablehaven fantasy series and Volume 5 is now available. Brandon joins us in studio.
4:20 – Kiss It Good-Bye: The Mystery, The Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates
In 1960, an upstart Pittsburgh Pirates team beat the highly favored New York Yankees in the World Series. Given the power of a Yankee roster that included Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and Yogi Berra, that improbable victory did more than give long-suffering Pirates fans something to cheer about; it put Pittsburgh on the map. Though John Moody was only six years old during that magical baseball season, he was a devoted fan of the Pittsburgh team. The star pitcher for the Pirates and John's first hero was Vernon Law-- an unsophisticated Idaho country boy, widely known as The Deacon, a friendly nickname derived from his strict Mormon upbringing. Law was a relatively young man at the time and should have enjoyed several more seasons of fame and success, yet his career went into decline following that phenomenal Series. As we kick off this baseball season, John Moody explores a compelling mystery that has persisted now for nearly fifty years, revealing at last why Vernon Law was unable to continue his dominance of Major League batters.
5:00 – Iconography: The Art of the East
Iconography refers to the making and liturgical use of icons, pictorial representations of Biblical scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, historical events in the life of the Church, and portraits of the saints. Icons are usually two-dimensional images and may be made of paint, mosaic, embroidery, weaving, carving, engraving, or other methods. Images have always been a vital part of the Church, but their place was the subject of the Iconoclast Controversy in the 8th and 9th centuries, especially in the East. The use of iconography is considered one of the most distinctive elements of the Byzantine Rite. Fr. Joseph Marquis is here to discuss the history, theology, and tradition of Icons.
5:40 – Kresta Comments: The Abuse Buzz: Being Buried Under Babel
The amount of news, hype, questions, conversation, accusation, defense, details, lawsuits, hyperbole, and spin in the whole clerical sexual abuse scandal is dizzying. It’s enough to make you want to just run and hide. But “run and hide” is not what we are called to do. Al has a primer on the sex abuse crisis and just how much information we are dealing with.
4:00 – Fablehaven
Fablehaven is a secret nature preserve protecting the beings of myth and legend from the outside world. The current caretaker, Stan Sorenson, describes it as “a refuge for mystical creatures”. Those who live in this large sanctuary, mortal and magical, must abide by a treaty of rules. The most common rules are focused upon “the law of the harvest” or “the law of retribution” meaning, you reap what you sow. Brandon Mull is the author of the bestselling Fablehaven fantasy series and Volume 5 is now available. Brandon joins us in studio.
4:20 – Kiss It Good-Bye: The Mystery, The Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates
In 1960, an upstart Pittsburgh Pirates team beat the highly favored New York Yankees in the World Series. Given the power of a Yankee roster that included Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and Yogi Berra, that improbable victory did more than give long-suffering Pirates fans something to cheer about; it put Pittsburgh on the map. Though John Moody was only six years old during that magical baseball season, he was a devoted fan of the Pittsburgh team. The star pitcher for the Pirates and John's first hero was Vernon Law-- an unsophisticated Idaho country boy, widely known as The Deacon, a friendly nickname derived from his strict Mormon upbringing. Law was a relatively young man at the time and should have enjoyed several more seasons of fame and success, yet his career went into decline following that phenomenal Series. As we kick off this baseball season, John Moody explores a compelling mystery that has persisted now for nearly fifty years, revealing at last why Vernon Law was unable to continue his dominance of Major League batters.
5:00 – Iconography: The Art of the East
Iconography refers to the making and liturgical use of icons, pictorial representations of Biblical scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, historical events in the life of the Church, and portraits of the saints. Icons are usually two-dimensional images and may be made of paint, mosaic, embroidery, weaving, carving, engraving, or other methods. Images have always been a vital part of the Church, but their place was the subject of the Iconoclast Controversy in the 8th and 9th centuries, especially in the East. The use of iconography is considered one of the most distinctive elements of the Byzantine Rite. Fr. Joseph Marquis is here to discuss the history, theology, and tradition of Icons.
5:40 – Kresta Comments: The Abuse Buzz: Being Buried Under Babel
The amount of news, hype, questions, conversation, accusation, defense, details, lawsuits, hyperbole, and spin in the whole clerical sexual abuse scandal is dizzying. It’s enough to make you want to just run and hide. But “run and hide” is not what we are called to do. Al has a primer on the sex abuse crisis and just how much information we are dealing with.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Archbishop Burke cites “public and obstinate betrayal of religious life” by Catholic Nuns who supported Health Care Reform Bill
Below you can listen to the entire speech, but here are a few excerpts and some exclusive photos from the event.
Among the most poignant statements are:
(Today we are) "overshadowed by the public and obstinate betrayal of religious life by certain religious. Who ever could have imagined that religious congregations of pontifical right, would openly organize to resist and attempt to frustrate an apostolic visitation, that is, a visit to their congregations carried out under the authority of the vicar of Christ on earth, to whom all religious are bound by the strongest bonds of loyalty and obedience?"Look for more on this story this afternoon on "Kresta in the Afternoon." A full written transcript is forthcoming.
"The spiritual harm done to the individual religious who are disobedient and also the grave scandal caused to the faithful and people in general are of incalculable dimensions."
"Now is the time for us all, and in particular for consecrated persons to stand up for the truth and to call upon our fellow Catholics and leadership to do the same, or to cease identifying themselves as Catholics."
UPDATE: You can read the transcript here.
Today on Kresta - April 12, 2010
Talking about the "things that matter most" on Apr. 12
4:00 – Kresta Commentary – Common Misconceptions About the Crusades
On this day in the year 1204 the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople. The attack virtually destroyed the Byzantine Empire and ruined any hope of reunifying eastern and western Christians. Not everything done during the Crusades was defensibly, but not everything needs to be apologized for either. Al takes us through some common misconceptions about the Crusades.
4:20 – Enemies Among Us: A Novel
Novels about undercover FBI agents nabbing terrorists are more credible when written by former FBI agents. Bob Hamer's nearly three decades as a street agent gives weight to this thriller about erstwhile reckless agent Matt Hogan's redemption with the agency, his wife, and guilt-ridden past. In order to save his job, Hogan must leave his dangerous operations and infiltrate a Christian hospital, which he sees as a red herring to get him off the streets. But as the hospital is suspected of helping terrorists, Hogan has never had a more important assignment. Beyond thriller-speed action, the author includes references to Osama bin Laden, and reflections on the difference between guilt and shame societies. Stereotype-bending dialogue and believable characters elicit fear of evil and call forth hope that good exists in all ethnicities and religions. Bob joins us.
5:00 – Papal Trip to Commemorate St. Paul’s Shipwreck in Malta
This weekend the Holy Father will depart for Malta to celebrate the 1,950th anniversary of St. Paul's shipwreck on the island that, according to tradition, occurred in the year 60 A.D., during the Apostle's second voyage toward Rome. The Holy Father will meet with the president of the nation, as well as Maltese youth and clergy. This will be the Pope's 14th international apostolic trip and the third time for the Mediterranean archipelago to be visited by a Pontiff, after Pope John Paul II's visits in 1990 and 2001. Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964. It has more than 410,000 inhabitants, 98% of whom are Catholic. Fr. Richard Cassidy, author of Paul in Chains: Roman Imprisonment and the Letters of St. Paul, is here with us in studio to discuss this Papal trip.
5:40 – Kresta Comments – Archbishop Burke cites “public and obstinate betrayal of religious life” by Catholic Nuns who supported Health Care Reform Bill
This weekend Archbishop Raymond Burke spoke at three-day conference put on by the Institute on Religious Life and was awarded the Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award. The speech he delivered on Saturday was biting - even by Archbishop Burke standards. He called out the nuns who publicly supported the pro-abortion health care bill with phrases such as "public and obstinate betrayal of religious life," "defiance of the bishops," "contradicts their very nature," "knowingly and obstinately acting against the moral law,” "grave scandal," and "cease identifying themselves as Catholics." We take a listen.
4:00 – Kresta Commentary – Common Misconceptions About the Crusades
On this day in the year 1204 the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople. The attack virtually destroyed the Byzantine Empire and ruined any hope of reunifying eastern and western Christians. Not everything done during the Crusades was defensibly, but not everything needs to be apologized for either. Al takes us through some common misconceptions about the Crusades.
4:20 – Enemies Among Us: A Novel
Novels about undercover FBI agents nabbing terrorists are more credible when written by former FBI agents. Bob Hamer's nearly three decades as a street agent gives weight to this thriller about erstwhile reckless agent Matt Hogan's redemption with the agency, his wife, and guilt-ridden past. In order to save his job, Hogan must leave his dangerous operations and infiltrate a Christian hospital, which he sees as a red herring to get him off the streets. But as the hospital is suspected of helping terrorists, Hogan has never had a more important assignment. Beyond thriller-speed action, the author includes references to Osama bin Laden, and reflections on the difference between guilt and shame societies. Stereotype-bending dialogue and believable characters elicit fear of evil and call forth hope that good exists in all ethnicities and religions. Bob joins us.
5:00 – Papal Trip to Commemorate St. Paul’s Shipwreck in Malta
This weekend the Holy Father will depart for Malta to celebrate the 1,950th anniversary of St. Paul's shipwreck on the island that, according to tradition, occurred in the year 60 A.D., during the Apostle's second voyage toward Rome. The Holy Father will meet with the president of the nation, as well as Maltese youth and clergy. This will be the Pope's 14th international apostolic trip and the third time for the Mediterranean archipelago to be visited by a Pontiff, after Pope John Paul II's visits in 1990 and 2001. Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964. It has more than 410,000 inhabitants, 98% of whom are Catholic. Fr. Richard Cassidy, author of Paul in Chains: Roman Imprisonment and the Letters of St. Paul, is here with us in studio to discuss this Papal trip.
5:40 – Kresta Comments – Archbishop Burke cites “public and obstinate betrayal of religious life” by Catholic Nuns who supported Health Care Reform Bill
This weekend Archbishop Raymond Burke spoke at three-day conference put on by the Institute on Religious Life and was awarded the Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award. The speech he delivered on Saturday was biting - even by Archbishop Burke standards. He called out the nuns who publicly supported the pro-abortion health care bill with phrases such as "public and obstinate betrayal of religious life," "defiance of the bishops," "contradicts their very nature," "knowingly and obstinately acting against the moral law,” "grave scandal," and "cease identifying themselves as Catholics." We take a listen.
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