EDMONTON - Paulist Father Thomas Ryan was turning 50 when he decided he didn’t want just another birthday cake, a scoop of ice cream and “Happy Birthday” sung to him.

Recently I led a week-long retreat for some 60 people at a renewal centre. Overall, it went very well, though ideally it could have gone better. It could have gone better if, previous to the retreat, I had more time to prepare and more time to rest so that I would have arrived at the retreat well rested, fully energetic and able to give this group my total undivided attention for seven days.

HAMILTON, ONT. - At Hamilton’s St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School, members of the senior soccer teams are learning more than just tactics, strategy and skills specific to their sport; they’re learning how faith contributes to their game.

Toronto’s Brebeuf College School has a vibrant faith life, and not only for Catholic students.

While attending a school of a different faith can be daunting, the experience has proven worthwhile for the school’s Catholic and non-Catholic students alike.

In Sr. Anna Chan’s earlier career in retail management, she sought happiness through a love of fine clothes, shoes and bags.

“I was looking for happiness,” said Chan, “but I was looking in the wrong place.”

The Catholic Register is proud to present its annual feature on retreat & renewal centres which help the mind, body and soul.

You can browse the articles below and see all the ads on the Digital Edition. The original pull-out section appeared in the April 19, 2015 issue.

It’s not just our bodies that need a workout, our souls need training too.

That’s what St. Paschal Baylon Church’s young adult ministry will be doing this year for its annual retreat April 25-26.

Earlier this year, I had a “dilemma.” There were five retreats happening in the same month — some landing on the same weekends. Which retreat should I go on? There was a Chinese Catholic students’ retreat, a quad university chaplaincies including my alma mater, one with the University of Toronto, another one on discernment and the silent retreat with the York University chaplaincy. In the end, I chose the days of discernment retreat. Funny enough, I ended up making a decision to go on a retreat to learn how to make better life decisions.

For the busy person who can’t get away for a spiritual retreat weekend, all they may need is to turn on their computer.

Virtual retreats are a fairly new concept — a retreat conducted through online media, often based on a time and place of the individual’s choosing.

OMAHA, Neb. - Working to establish and build a business that would become one of the largest discount brokerages in the United States — TD Ameritrade — Joe Ricketts found some 20 years ago he was drifting away from the Catholic faith and values that formed him growing up in Nebraska City.

VATICAN CITY - Just as the people they preach to must be reawakened to God, so to must the Church’s pastors — right up to those holding the highest positions in the Church — a Carmelite priest told Pope Francis and members of the Curia at their recent retreat.

I recently attended a men’s retreat and got three surprises. First surprise, a men’s and women’s retreat were happening at the same venue. Second, no one would be allowed to talk because it was a silent retreat. (Okay, participants were allowed to talk but only during the talks and during Mass.) The third surprise, and most important, is what I learned about masculinity and the role that men play in the Church. We also learned about what it means to be a “husband to the Church.”

TORONTO - Everyone needs spiritual direction at some point in their life, said Sr. Mechtilde O’Mara.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI asked Catholics for their prayers as he began his weeklong Lenten retreat Feb. 26.

Before reciting the Angelus prayer at midday with visitors in St. Peter's Square, he also prayed that all Catholics would "embrace the spirit of this holy season, through prayer, fasting and almsgiving."

STAMFORD, CONN. - They say silence is golden. Well, silence is also tough. I learned just how challenging it is to be completely silent during a young women’s retreat with the Sisters of Life in Stamford over the Feb. 10-12 weekend.

Going into the retreat, I knew there were going to be periods of silence. But I didn’t quite know the full extent of it. Following our first talk of the weekend on the theme “Love Never Fails,” the sisters informed us — to my dismay — we would start our silence after compline, or night prayer. We’d break the talking fast the next day with dinner at 6 p.m. About 20 hours, with talking only allowed within the context of confession and Mass.