Practicing Catholic Show

If you’re a regular listener to Practicing Catholic, you know we’ve been having some talk about relics recently on the show (and if you missed them, check out our interviews with Archbishop Hebda and Sean Pilcher). This time, host Patrick Conley chats with Fr. Leonard Andrie, pastor of the Church of St. Therese in Deephaven, to talk about some special family relics that are set to come to the Arch...

Most of our listeners either remember or are experiencing for yourselves the whirlwind of being in your 20s and 30s. With so many life changes occurring and having to navigate the world for the first time on your own, it’s good to have a Catholic community around you to empathize with you and redirect your eyes to the Lord. Our Lady of Grace in Edina has a vibrant example of one such community in...

What do you know about the women Doctors of the Church? Maybe you have a devotion to one or more of them. They’re certainly worth getting to know! Helping us do just that is DeAnn Brandel, the Office and Communications Manager for the Church of St. Patrick in Edina, who sat down with Patrick Conley to share a special opportunity for women to spend a day with these four holy women! Find out more an...

Veneration of relics of saints is something unique for Catholics, and it has been a fall filled with relics here in the Archdiocese. First, a large relic of Saint Jude was here recently, and coming up in a couple of weeks, relics of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and her parents – Saints Zelie and Louis Martin - will be touring the area.   Our shepherd, Archbishop Hebda, joined producer Kayla Mayer to h...

Hundreds of people involved in the world of Restorative Justice are about to descend on the Twin Cities for their biannual national conference. If you’re not familiar with the term "restorative justice", you may be familiar with some of its practices – like bringing offenders, victims and the community together – with the ultimate goals of accountability and the repairing of harm. Fr. Da...

Big-box home goods stores are easy to come by around the Twin Cities metro, but what if you could shop small for your home goods at a place that embraces a Catholic way of thinking? Turns out, you can! MarySarah Stokman, proprietor of The Olive Branch, a home goods shop in the Mac-Groveland neighborhood in St. Paul, sat down with host Patrick Conley about how her store can invite you to find grace...

What’s your devotion to relics of the saints? What role do they play in your spiritual life? Here on Practicing Catholic, we're still learning. That’s why host Patrick Conley sat down with Sean Pilcher, the director of Sacra: Relics of the Saints, an apostolate established to restore, authenticate, and promote the veneration of sacred relics.  To contact Sacra: Relics of the Saints or find out...

If you’re looking for rich history, beautiful art, amazing food, and animated people, certainly Rome has got to be near the top of your list of places to go. Dr. Liz Lev is an art historian transplanted from the US, now living in Rome herself, where she does tours and teaches at Duquesne University’s Italian campus and “the Ang”--the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. She joined produc...

How is a faithful, young Catholic supposed to navigate the peaks and pitfalls of dating in the 21st century?  That's what Our Lady of Grace in Edina is trying to answer for our local young adults with their event series, "Call Me: A Catholic Young Adult’s Guide to Dating, Discernment, and I Do". Ryan O’Hara, a guest presenter in the series, joined host Patrick Conley to share some of...

We hope you already know, but just in case you don’t, around the Archdiocese, we take our Catholic schools pretty seriously. Just how seriously? Well, you’ll get a taste of that as host Patrick Conley talks to Dr. Emily Dahdah, the Director of Educational Quality and Excellence for the Archdiocesan Office for the Mission of Catholic Education. Find the new and improved website for the Catholic sch...

Some of our listeners know that last year, host Patrick Conley's wife became the principal of their small, local Catholic school. And boy, oh, boy, they learned quickly that the principal of a school has to wear many hats: from substitute teacher, to disciplinarian, to accountant, to maintenance engineer, to... Well, you get the idea. For our back-to-school show, we wanted to take a look at a...

Well, fall is definitely in the air. The state fair has come and gone, kids are back in class, and college students have returned to campus. But for producer Kayla Mayer, back-to-school season at the University of St. Thomas meant one thing: the Saint Paul’s Outreach hog roast. Kayla relived part of her college experience with Josiah Klas, a chapter leader for Saint Paul’s Outreach at the Universi...

We all like stories of redemption. Look at the books we read, the movies we watch, and most memorable stories we’ve heard. Host Patrick Conley sat down with Kelly Lester – who accepted God’s forgiveness in a most radical way – and talked about her winding journey to becoming the dedicated pro-life advocate she is today. **CONTENT WARNING** This episode contains mentions of women's experiences...

A quick Google search will show you that Saint Drogo is the patron saint of coffee. But for a Northeast Minneapolis coffee roaster, it’s definitely John Paul II. As a coffee lover and big fan of JPII, Patrick was excited to chat with Nate Whipple – founder of Karol Coffee – named after Karol Wojtyla, the man who would become a pope and saint. Purchase your own Catholic cup of joe at https://karolc...

Did you attend the Burn Revival in Minneapolis this summer? If not, don’t worry, you can still hear all about it. Our good friends over at Blessed Is She are hosting Burn Revivals across the country, including one that happened recently here, in our Archdiocese. Producer Kayla Mayer sat down with Beth Davis, the Director of Ministry Advancement for Blessed Is She, to talk more about the community...

Well, kids, there’s no denying it. Back to School season is here. It’s not all bad though: this is an exciting time of beginnings and facing challenges that will help you grow. Back for his monthly segment, Archbishop Bernard Hebda joined host Patrick Conley to share his own words of encouragement for students and parents.  Like what you're hearing? Leave us a review and follow us on social me...

While students head back to school, do you feel like doing some learning yourself? Well, you’re in luck! The Catholic Social Difference speaker series from the newly formed Center for Catholic Social Thought is perfect for you, and Colin Miller, the Center’s founder, joined host Patrick Conley to tell you why.  Like what you're hearing? Leave us a review and follow us on social media @practici...

Long lines. Sleeping outside on the ground with hundreds of thousands of other young people. A DJ priest, and, hanging out with our Holy Father. That’s what many of us saw in news coverage of World Youth Day, held in Portugal - but we all know there’s a lot more to it than that. Host Patrick Conley sat down with Michelle Boris and Paul Lucke to unpack their experience at World Youth Day.  Like wha...

When we offer prayers for vocations in Mass, the priesthood and the religious life are often mentioned, sometimes the diaconate, and occasionally the married life...but we don’t often hear about Consecrated single life, specifically, the life of a Consecrated Virgin living in the world—a calling that seems to be increasing in popularity as of late, even in our local Church. Nicole Bettini, the new...

Whether it’s Gregorian Chant, old, traditional hymns, or more modern praise and worship songs, everyone seems to have a taste for music in Mass—and often, corresponding opinions, as well! Host Patrick Conley sat down with Simon Pick, Director of Music and Liturgy at Assumption Catholic Church in St. Paul, to talk about the importance of music to our spiritual lives. Like what you're hearing? L...

If you spend any time around teenagers these days, we're guessing you see a lot of leadership potential...Sure, it may need a bit of refining, but that’s what the DLITE program at Dunrovin retreat center is all about. Deacon Nick Vance, a transitional deacon for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, joined host Patrick Conley to tell us more about how the program is forming future lea...

We are in the midst of an historic Eucharistic revival in the Archdiocese and across the United States. Hopefully, you have taken steps to deepen your love of and devotion to Jesus, present to us in the most holy sacrament of the altar. But even if you haven’t it’s never too late to get started! Fr. Tim Tran, the point person for the National Eucharistic Revival for our Archdiocese, joined host Pa...

Do you watch the Miss America pageant in January? If you’re a practicing Catholic, you will want to plan on it in 2024! Angelina Amérigo was crowned Miss Minnesota in June and will represent our state in the Miss America pageant in January. What’s more, she is a parishioner at St. Bartholomew in Wayzata and joined host Patrick Conley to talk about how her faith has been a foundation throughout her...

Hospitality may seem like a rather innocuous thing: something that’s nice and kind to do, and usually appreciated, but perhaps not a sort of make-or-break, life-or-death thing. Try telling that to those who have fled their homes and nations to seek out refuge and sanctuary in the Twin Cities. Host Patrick Conley was joined by three representatives from Guardian Angels in Oakdale to talk about refu...

As Catholics, we’re blessed to be members of a universal Church. That was made very real for a group of women and men from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis who spent more than a week with our sisters and brothers in the Diocese of Kitui, Kenya. Delegates from this year’s trip, Marci Franzen and Julie Woodruff, joined host Patrick Conley to talk about the trip and the partnership with...