A Catholic deacon’s ministry is usually found in one of three areas: hospitals, missions and prisons. For me, the blessing is to minister to the sick, their families and caregivers at a major hospital.

If discerning a vocation was simply a more holy version of making career choices there would be no need to talk about love. But for Jesuits, the conversation about a vocation is always a conversation about love.

REGINA – No one is quite sure when it all began, but Christ the King Parish in Regina has developed and sustained a highly organized, well-trained ministry that involves 60 people who provide lay ministry services and visiting to about 260 sick and elderly people.

MONTREAL – Sr. Phyllis Douillard admits she had reservations when she retired from teaching to work with prisoners.

When residents first enter the Southdown Institute in the small township of East Gwillimbury, Ont., north of Toronto, they are usually lethargic and depressed. They are religious or clergy who have been sent there by the leaders of their diocese or their community, to be treated for addictions and mental health issues.

TORONTO – When Elizabeth Carrillo was five, she arrived in Canada with her mother, at the time pregnant with her son Brian. The FCJ Refugee Centre literally became the family’s home.

VANCOUVER – How far will a man go to follow his dreams? For Fr. Joseph Thoai Le, labour camps, imprisonment and perils at sea could not block his destiny to become a priest.

TORONTO – Before Pope Francis even thought of declaring a Jubilee Year of Mercy, one ship in Africa was already proclaiming this message.

TORONTO – Patricia Rehak still remembers feeling overwhelmed when she first travelled to Guatemala in 2004. A project manager, she and her husband Daniel, a professional engineer, had volunteered with the Canadian Executive Service Organization.

WASHINGTON – As the Oct. 3 feast of St. Francis of Assisi approached this year followers gathered at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land spoke of a revival taking place in the Franciscan order.