Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" - We Count Down the Top 40 Interviews of 2013

Talking about the "things that matter most" on January 2

COUNTDOWN OF THE TOP 40 INTERVIEWS OF 2013

4:00 – #7 - Still Point: Loss, Longing and Our Search for God

Franciscan University professor, popular speaker, and prolific author Regis Martin tells how the deaths of his mother and brother pushed him to revisit all he knew and felt about God and his own deepest desires--and how he came to reconcile the theology he teaches with the lived experience of faith. He narrates the crisis of faith he faced when his mother and brother died. Against this backdrop he explores the questions at the heart of all human longing: What does it mean to really be lost? What if God doesn't want us after all? What does Christ's cry from the cross say about human suffering? Why is it never hopeless to hope? Martin eloquently shows that it is at the still point that one encounters the mingling of past and future, grit and grace, man and God.

4:40 – #6 - Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith)

The Holy See has released Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith), the first encyclical letter of Pope Francis. The document is dated June 29, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. It was introduced to the media at a press conference in Rome on Friday. The encyclical on faith was begun by Pope Benedict XVI, before his resignation, and completed by Pope Francis, who referred to the document as the work of “four hands,” suggesting that the encyclical represented the work of both himself and his predecessor. In his introduction, Pope Francis writes that Benedict XVI “had almost completed a first draft of an encyclical on faith.” He says that he “added a few contributions of my own.” Still the document is signed only by Pope Francis, and will be known to history as the 1st encyclical of the new Pontiff. We talk to Dr. Scott Hahn.

5:00 – #5 -Forgiving and Moving On After Personal Tragedy

Amy O’Rourke, is a mother of four and a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Fenton, MI. She is also the wife police officer Patrick O’Rourke who was killed late last year after being shot during a standoff late at a home in West Bloomfield, MI. The 39-year-old’s funeral was attended by thousands of friends, family and fellow force members. Amy joins us again to talk about forgiveness, recovery and being a widowed mother.

5:40 – #4 - China to maintain 1-child policy but is there a signal of future change?

The Chinese government has announced that it will maintain its family-planning policy but will merge its National Population and Family Planning Commission into its Ministry of Health--a move that may signal a future weakening of the policy. Wang Feng, director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy in Beijing says “The way to interpret this is that the laws are still in effect, but the judges and the policemen have all been fired. Soon the laws will also change. Leaders are aware of the changing demographics. The one-child policy has taken a toll on the labor force and has jeopardized the future economy.” Should we see great hope in this announcement? David Aikman, china expert and former Beijing bureau chief for Time Magazine joins us.