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Ever wondered who is behind your favorite Thursday emails? Where did MSP Catholic come from? And what in the world does CEND stand for? Annie Tracy tells the story of the Center for Evangelization and Discipleship and invites you to be part of our mission!

We're in Year 3 of our Archdiocesan Synod. Fall 2021 includes 6 weeks of Synod Small Group discussions...and here's who should be there.

Let's be honest - most the time we don't turn to Christian music the moment we put in headphones or turn on the speakers. How we fill our days and brains is important; mixing some good, faith-filled music into your normal playlists is a great way to focus your thoughts on God throughout the day. Nicholas Vance has a few albums just for this purpose!

Ever notice that Young Adult events never happen on Wednesdays? Coincidence? No, not really. We teamed up with The Dudes That Babel podcast to chat about the best way to spend your Wednesday nights. Read along and/or listen...either way, there's something important you can do with your Wednesdays.

We never thought we'd promote binging a TV show - but there hasn't really ever been a show like The Chosen either. Sarah Carter makes the case for hit show and why it should be your show to close out the summer!

How can we stop being bored? Is it boring to think about how to not be bored? In the third and final part of the boredom series, Nicholas Vance goes through some ideas and ways to address your boredom. Some are new, others you've heard before, but all are key to breaking out of a cycle of boredom!

Nick Vance is back with part 2 of his series on boredom. This time, we face the reality of how to finding out who you really are and how others are an important part of that journey.

Looking for a new podcast? Skip yet another true crime one and try one that is produced locally, features local hosts and guests, and leverages the academic powerhouse that is the Center for Catholic Studies. Fr. Hagan explores "Deep Down Things", the format of the show, and why we as a culture need to move beyond simple surface level perceptions of this world.

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.