Saturday, April 20, 2013

Celebrating the 50th World Day of Prayer for Vocations


The World Day of Prayer for Vocations or Vocations Sunday will be celebrated tomorrow, April 21, on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The theme chosen for this year  is: “Vocations as a sign of hope founded in faith”.

This 50th World Day of Prayer for Vocations also coincides with the Year of Faith, which is marking the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. While the Council was sitting, Pope Paul VI instituted the World Day of Prayer for Vocations which is a worldwide day of prayer to God, asking him to continue to send workers for his Church (cf. Mt 9:38).

When he published the message for Vocations Sunday 2013 in .October last year, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said: “Vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life are born out of the experience of a personal encounter with Christ, out of sincere and confident dialogue with him, so as to enter into his will. It is necessary, therefore, to grow in the experience of faith, understood as a profound relationship with Jesus, as inner attentiveness to his voice which is heard deep within us. This process, which enables us to respond positively to God’s call, is possible in Christian communities where the faith is lived intensely, where generous witness is given of adherence to the Gospel, where there is a strong sense of mission which leads people to make the total gift of self for the Kingdom of God, nourished by recourse to the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and by a fervent life of prayer.”

Let us ask Jesus, the Lord of the harvest, to send workers in His Vineyard: more priests and religious men and women who will continue to spread the message of salvation throughout the world.

Friday, April 12, 2013

The vocation of the Pauline missionaries


God calls all of us by our own name and He has a wonderful dream for each one of us. He calls us through prayer and reflection, speaking through events and through others about our hopes and desires, our gifts and talents. In responding to God’s call to each of us, we can experience what Jesus has promised: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”


We Pauline missionaries are given this task to be open and to encounter other cultures, entering into a free relationship not only with God, but also with others in the place and country where we had been sent by Him. We are called to realize our missionary vocation utilizing the instruments of the communications media so as to bring God’s message of peace and love to all people.


Blessed James Alberione, founder of the Pauline Family, said, “Jesus entrusts to the apostles the world and all men and women. They will be the light and salt of the world; fishers of souls and sowers; pastors and witnesses of Christ!”