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We've been talking a lot lately about dialogue and how we talk past each other so often - be it social media or in-person. Following up her last post "How to Fail at Dialogue", Sarah Carter takes a look at Pope Francis' book "Let Us Dream" and how we can start to fix our dialogue as a society.

The Archdiocese and its priests will be gathering for a biennial assembly in June. With most of our priests out of town, we called around to find out which parishes will still be able to offer Mass & Confession during the week! Let us know if you find others.

"The opposite of boredom is love". That is a challenging quote from Pope Emeritus Benedict the XVI, especially in an age where two-day shipping seems slow and Netflix spinning for a few seconds seems like ages. But what is boredom? Nick Vance jumps into this exact question in the first part of his new series for MSP Catholic.

We've recently celebrated Pentecost and while it is celebrated in the middle of the Liturgical year, Pentecost is, in some ways, the end of a season. The period from Advent to Pentecost is one of the most important times in the Church as well as a symbol for Salvation History. Fr. Hagan dives into the meaning of world history.

"Debate...is very often no more than a “parallel monologue” in which no one is really heard, and no one is convinced, either." How true is that today? Is it possible to avoid all the pitfalls we face in talking about opposing views? Enter "Fratelli tutti", Pope Francis' most recent encyclical where he emphasizes the need for authentic dialogue. Sarah Carter begins to dive into the Pope's thoughts for MSP Catholic.

It's pretty common knowledge that going to seminary just means praying a lot, learning Latin, and drinking copious amounts of coffee - or is it? While all those things may be (somewhat) true, Nick Vance gives us look at what the day and week in the life of a Seminarian actually looks like!

The most valuable lesson... is the need to protect your headspace; the distance between your ears where you tend to spend so much of your time and attention.

Meet Rachel Harkins Ullman. Wife, mother of three young children, and the Executive Director of the GIVEN Institute. Rachel recently sat down with MSP Catholic contributing writer Susanna Parent to talk about the mission and vision of GIVEN as well as the upcoming GIVEN Gathering taking place in the Twin Cities this April 24.

It's easy to look at our current state of fragmented discourse and partisanship and think "Why should Catholics care about politics?". Well, here is your answer.

We seem to make Lent about what we do, not what the Lord is doing with us. Let's stop trying to increase our faith (as if we could!) and instead look to the One in whom our faith rests and gives us the gift of Faith to start with.

Our culture does not make it easy to talk about the Catholic faith. To do so feels like risking our social connection, possibly jobs, or even family connections. Fr. Hagan dives into this topic of sharing our faith with the society we live in, the traps or lies we can fall into, and how to expand our understanding of our faith so that we can truly dialogue with the people around us.

Virtual options are a gift of the modern age that have mitigated the negative impact of social distancing and quarantines, but they cannot become a new standard for Christians. Current numbers suggest that it is time to start showing up in person. 

Without a socially lived Christianity there is little power in an individually believed Christianity—a faith that cannot realize itself in a society (a circle of friends, a communion) remains a dead faith to the extent it remains at all. We are not called to be Christians by ourselves but with one another.

Why is packing for a trip so hard? Is it that we want to be prepared for every little thing that could happen...or do we not want to live without the comforts we've grown so used to?

Question - "Should God be your conscience? And if not, what is the difference?"

An interview with Dr. Michael and Teresa Naughton on the importance of leisure and rest on the Sabbath.

Under ordinary circumstances, Catholics are obligated to attend Mass on Sundays. But as we are well aware by now, the past ten months have not been ordinary, and since last March our bishop has leveraged his legitimate authority to suspend this obligation, giving Catholics the freedom not to attend.

The Saints were undoubtedly incredible people who lived lives of virtue and full of zeal for Christ. But how do you tell someone about all of these great stories without making them sound unreal or unattainable? That is the goal of the Dead Friend Saints podcast, created by Claire Ellendson. Nick Vance recently sat down with Claire to talk about her show and the saints.

"Looking to the sacred cave of Bethlehem, what have we seen? Not a disparate collection of mere “seekers,” but rather a human ecclesia, a unity-in-diversity, a community formed in joy, peace, and hope, and all at the intersection of human wisdom and divine revelation."

The Twin Cities-based theater has been telling redemptive stories of faith, hope, and reconciliation since 2011. Founders Jeremy and Sarah Stanbary sat down recently with MSP Catholic to share their story of starting and running OWT.