Practicing Catholic Show

At a time when the culture is waging a war on femininity and masculinity, it’s more important than ever to further educate ourselves on the distinct gifts that both men and women bring to the table within our Church.  Joining us this past weekend to share about the particular gifts and attributes of lay men was Fr. Tom Wilson, pastor of All Saints and Lakeville. 

Although Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, there’s much to be done still around our nation for the protection of the unborn. Our friends in the Office of Marriage, Family and Life are at the forefront of this nationwide movement and have organized a trip to the annual March for Life happening later in January.   Joining us to share more about how you or the young adults in your life can get...

How might we start 2023 with an enriched spiritual life? We rewind a great interview with Father John Paul Erickson to talk about New Year's Resolutions and how to make a spiritually-enriching one.   

This Sunday marked the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. Seems like a GREAT reason to celebrate our blessed mother AND her son! Don’t you love being Catholic – always a reason to party! Our friend Father Michael Van Sloun j oined us to talk about the feast and why it’s such a big deal. 

This next interview has become a favorite segment of the Practicing Catholic team, and hopefully of yours too: our annual Christmas music review!   Nick Chalmers, Director of Choirs at Chesterton Academy and Director of Music at Annunciation parish in Minneapolis, alongside his leading role in the Mirandola Ensemble , is back for his 2nd year in the Christmas music hot seat!  

We re-visited a really great interview about our Archdiocese’s history with Allison Spies. After nearly 125 years in existence, there are some great Christmas stories in the Archdiocese’s archives just waiting to be told! 

Do you have a favorite Christmas memory? Specifically, do you have a memory of an experience that brought out the wonder, the mystery of the Word-made-flesh to you? Patrick shares a special memory from his first midnight Mass as a Catholic. 

Here in our Archdiocese, we are blessed to have such strong and inspiring leadership as demonstrated by Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Williams. And believe it or not, we’re already approaching the one-year anniversary of the good Bishop Williams’ appointment as auxiliary bishop! It’s certainly been a year full of new responsibilities, “baby bishop school” as His Excellency fondly says, and pastoring...

As we know, it’s so important to keep working towards forming youth and young adults for a Church that is always young (thanks to the Synod for keeping that at the forefront!). We have an exciting opportunity for the young adults in your life as we head into 2023, World Youth Day this year is being held in Portugal and a group from our own local Church is heading there on pilgrimage!  Joining...

As Practicing Catholics, we know that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith – we hear that time and time again, and for good reason. Fr. Tim Tran, parochial vicar of St. Stephen in Anoka and Diocesan Point Person for the National Eucharistic Revival is with us to catch us up on where the Revival has been this year, and share about what’s to come as we head into 2023. 

We’re back for our last installment of Mass Class with Fr. Tom Margevicius, the Director of the Office of Worship for the Archdiocese. If you’ve missed any of Fr. Tom’s teachings, go to Spotify and search for our Mass Class playlist. You may also find all the past interviews at practicingcatholicshow.com! 

I know of few things more inspiring than hearing a good conversion story. Sometimes, the Lord’s work of transforming lives is difficult to observe in the day-to-day, but when we look back over the years, we can really see how he has been at work.  Joining us now is Josh Marshall, who has definitely seen the Lord at work in his life, and he’s come on the show to share that with us and inspire...

We’ve said it before here on Practicing Catholic and we’ll say it again: we are so blessed to have such strong leadership in our Archdiocese and the Archbishop’s recent pastoral letter has just proven again that our shepherd cares for us and listens to our needs.  Part of the newly-revealed synod implementation plan (included in the pastoral letter ) includes participation of “the 12” in the...

If you’re anything like us here at Practicing Catholic, you might be on the hunt for some ideas to enrich your Advent this year. What do you do when you get stuck in a spiritual rut? How do you keep Advent Advent in the midst of the Christmas anticipation and shopping craziness? Paul Sadek, Cami Berthiaume, and show host Patrick Conley talk about what makes Advent special to us here at Practicing...

How’s your Advent been so far? Luckily we’re only a week in so there’s much to look forward to during this time of anticipation. Maybe you’re still looking for a way to give of your time and perhaps material resources this year?   Our friends at Catholic Charities are back for their 30th year of the Giving Tree at the Mall of America – a place for our local brothers and sisters to pick up ess...

Advent is such a unique time in the liturgical year: we’re preparing our hearts for the birth of Christ through generosity to others, service to the needy, and care to those who could use a bit of extra love.   Our consecrated religious brothers and sisters are both on the giving and the receiving end of this Advent generosity, and here today to chat about one practical way to give back is Sr...

Remember Thanksgiving, 2020? We were in the midst of COVID, and holiday gatherings were at least limited, if not canceled altogether. This Thanksgiving weekend, when we’re grateful not to be amid a pandemic, we’re taking a look back two years ago at an interview with Susanna Parent, former producer of our show and now-stay-at-home mom and freelance writer . Though there’s a fair bit of COVID langu...

It’s easy to take sight for granted, isn’t it? Many of us go through most days not even thinking of it. Because of that, this weekend we’re talking with two members of the Xavier Society for the Blind - a Catholic organization teaching about the challenges our blind sisters and brothers face and how we can help and learn from them. 

Following the elections from earlier this month, there’s a clear need for us to continue to accompany and support moms, dads and their unborn babies. We’ll chat with Sydney March and Father John Paul Erickson about Options for Women East – and how we can get involved in these local pro-life efforts.

National Vocations Awareness Week wrapped-up earlier this month, but it’s always vocations season in the Church. Coming up, we’ll check-in with Father David Blume – director of the Office of Vocations in the Archdiocese – about the state of vocations and tips on how to talk with our children and grandchildren about answering God’s call.   

From the Holy Days to Sunday readings, Mother Church provides us with ample opportunities in November to contemplate our mortality. It’s a gift because, as Catholic Christians, we know that this Earthly life is not our final destination. Thanks be to God, right?! Joining us this past weekend to help us do just that (and invite us to this special event) was Amy Miller, author of “Last Life Lesson:...

Well praise God: after three years of tireless work at the hands of many volunteers, employees of the Archdiocesan Catholic Center, and of course our bishops, the culmination of the Synod is here! Archbishop Hebda’s Synod pastoral letter has been released this weekend of the Solemnity of Christ the King – find it at archspm.org/synodletter and listen as our shepherd discusses what you’ll find ther...

This past weekend, Father Tom Margevicius was back for our November Mass Class! He answers a couple of your questions and takes a look at the Concluding Rite. Be sure to catch up on past ‘Mass Classes’ by visiting practicingcatholicshow.com. 

 Right on the heels of National Vocation Awareness Week, we thought it’d be helpful to take a look at the different types of orders around the Archdiocese - including secular institutes. Ever heard of those? What are the differences between a secular institute and a religious order?    We’ll get some answers today from Natasha Sager, member of the Caritas-Christi Secular Institute ;...

 Right now, we’re continuing our look at vocations during this National Vocation Awareness Week by gaining some insights into the priesthood with an experienced priest of the Archdiocese. What exactly is spiritual fatherhood, and what does that practically look like as a priest? Fr. Skluzacek of the St. Paul Seminary fills us in.