Becoming a priest at age 47 is a day Fr. Chad Franklin won’t soon forget.

The Notre Dame de Lorette Council of The Catholic Women’s League (CWL) has been honoured by the province of Manitoba with the Premier’s Volunteer Service Award.

Student trustee Julia Vo wants every student to know they belong.

On the spring morning of Saturday,  May 8, 2004, I was ordained a priest. Just after the spirit-filled and joyful ceremony at St. Michael’s Cathedral, the Director of Priest Personnel gave me my letter of appointment from the archbishop. The letter reminded me of the motto that my classmates had chosen for our ordination: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21). After a few weeks of vacation, I reported to my pastor at St. Rose of Lima Parish on Canada Day to begin my new faith journey.

During a recent Daily TV Mass, the homilist mentioned Ignatius Loyola, the saint who used to speak of finding God in all things. Hearing that got me thinking about my garden. As far as I’m concerned, nowhere is the work of His hands more evident than in the birds, blooms and bugs that make the garden a place of delight.

The Season of Creation, which began Sept. 1 and lasts through the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi Oct. 4, has always been a time for prayer, reflection and thanksgiving, a time to open our eyes and see the beauty of God’s creation. But this year our prayers are meant to spur action — concerted, global, political action.

For nearly 100 years, popes have set aside time for an annual retreat and meditation on spiritual exercises. It’s more than a custom — it’s become an essential part of papal life.

If you think a retreat is just a day or two in the countryside spent praying and reading Scripture, the Star of the North Retreat House in St. Albert, Alta., wants you to think again. Beginning with an introductory session the Oct. 3 weekend, Star of the North wants to take a diverse range of people through a three-year process divided into nine modules called Aurora Living.

Saturdays and weekday nights have taken on a special dimension in Angie Carboni’s life in recent months.

Given the mental and emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on society over the past year-and-a-half, for many, spiritual retreat may be more essential than ever.