Join Stephen Paff and Laurie Johnson October 14, starting at 7 p.m. US Central Time, as they discuss the implications the recent AI technology will have on people and society. The session will be live on zoom. You can get in on this conversation by becoming a patron of the Maurin Academy at the Salt of the Earth level or above.
Laurie and Spencer talk to Colin Miller and Tyler Hambley, who trace their path to the Church through the practices of Catholic Workers: praying daily, sharing meals, and opening their homes to the homeless. Now in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, they live family-to-family alongside formerly homeless men and teach through the Center for Catholic Social Thought. They argue for “thick” Christian community over thin, optional social ties.
In this episode, Colin Miller and Tyler Hambly trace their path from Anglican clergy to the Catholic Church through the concrete practices of the Catholic Worker: praying daily, sharing meals, and opening their homes to unhoused neighbors. What began as the Daily Office in Durham became a life of works of mercy that made them “Catholic before they knew it,” later confirmed by Newman and Augustine. Now in Minneapolis–Saint Paul, they live family-to-family alongside formerly homeless men and teach through the Center for Catholic Social Thought. They argue for “thick” Christian community—defined by prayer, meals, child-rearing, conflict and reconciliation—over thin, optional social ties. The friction is real, but they see it as a share in Christ’s Passion that yields the true fruit: a reconciled people.
This Friday’s session with Gavin will be postponed! There was a last minute scheduling issue, but we will post the reschedule date as soon we get that in the calendar.
Mary Berry’s latest article in the Berry Center’s newsletter really said it succinctly–America has never had a plan to make the country food independent. Instead, the government has prioritized participation in the global commodity market, food interdependence and soft power, for over 70 years with tax and regulatory policies that help one type of agriculture over another. See the full article here: https://berrycenter.org/2025/08/21/4028/
In 1973, Dorothy Day was in California to stand with the United Farm Workers. The UFW was in conflict with grape growers who had signed contracts with the rival Teamsters union, undermining years of organizing and collective bargaining by the farm workers’ movement. When farm workers launched strikes and boycotts, the growers responded with intimidation … Read more
This Thursday, September 4 at 7-8:30 p.m. US Central Time, the Maurin Academy’s Great Books Reading Group will meet live on Zoom for our first meeting on Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. This is a classic originally published in 1985 which is all too relevant today. We are now living in the full-blast … Read more
Spencer and Laurie discuss an article by Paul V. Stock, “The Perennial Nature of the Catholic Worker Farms: A Reconsideration of Failure,” in Rural Sociology, 2014.
https://pmaurin.org/get-involved/
The Great Books reading group led by Laurie Johnson starts a new book, Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, in September. The group meets monthly to discuss how media shapes public discourse, urging critical engagement with complex ideas. Supporting the group costs as little as $1 per month on Patreon.
The Maurin Academy was happy to provide Rico with some financial support while he lived and worked on the farm, getting in touch with nature, animals and friends. Above are some of Rico’s photos of the farm, and below are some of his observations. Thank you, Rico, for your much-needed help on our urban farm!