There are a lot of myths about vocations. Read this first part of Kristina Glicksman's new series to find out the truth about vocation and discernment. ...read more

Focolare comes from the Italian word meaning “hearth” or “family fireside”. This is a concept whose absence has been sorely felt in our times. People don’t gather around warmth communally anymore. Since the time of the fireside gatherings we have scrambled and sought ways to replicate this unique-and necessary- source of fellowship and solidarity that ...read more

There’s nothing really around that can turn lead into gold, but by God’s grace we can turn trials into love. That line is one of many gems from Archbishop Thomas Collins in February’s Lectio Divina. This month Toronto’s chief shepherd begins a series of reflection on the Letter of St. James.  In this particular episode ...read more

I remember speaking to Fr. David or Fr. Martin of The Priests sometime last year about the 2012 Eucharistic Congress that would be held in Ireland.  I was wondering out loud if Pope Benedict might visit the Emerald Isle for the event, and if the The Priests might be participating in some capacity.  They were ...read more

After a moving prayer vigil in London’s Hyde Park Pope Benedict XVI boarded a helicopter to Birmingham this morning to celebrate the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. Blessed John Henry Newman is an important figure for both British Catholics and Anglicans. He began his adult life as an Anglican priest and during that time ...read more

As we count down the hours until Cardinal Newman’s beatification in Birmingham, England, it’s time to take a crash course in just who the Church is honouring. After all, this is the first Mass of beatification that Benedict XVI will personally celebrate during his pontificate. (While canonizations are held in the Vatican, the recent norm ...read more

For many Catholics, their first encounter with Cardinal John Henry Newman is on a university campus. It’s a natural association, given Newman’s experience as a rector, which informed his volume of discourses The Idea of a University. Still, I was surprised to learn, while researching for Catholic Focus, that the first Newman Club was established ...read more

Who really is Cardinal John Henry Newman? Back when I was a student involved in the Newman Centre at Queen’s University, I confess that I knew nothing about the life and works of the centre’s namesake. Now, having spent the past few weeks researching him for Catholic Focus, I’ve learned that it’s not an easy ...read more

Cor ad cor loquitur — heart speaks to heart. That’s the motto Cardinal John Henry Newman chose for his coat of arms when he was given the red hat. Some 130 years later, it’s the theme of Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Journey to the United Kingdom – a visit that will be highlighted by the ...read more

For those of you devoted to Cardinal John Henry Newman, you may want to circle it on your calendar. October 9th. That was the day of the Cardinal’s conversion to Catholicism in 1845. And Pope Benedict XVI is set to announce it as his feast day when he officially declares the English scholar beatified on ...read more