World Day of Prayer for Vocations
Sunday, April 21, 2024
On this 61st anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, also liturgically known as Good Shepherd Sunday, we are invited to pray for and promote all vocations. Initiated by Saint Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council in 1964, the purpose of this day is to help all of us respond to God’s call and to support in prayer all those who are discerning how to best respond to the needs of today in the vocation God calls them to be.
Many parishes and religious institutes commemorate this day by praying for vocations and supporting vocation promotion events. Considering that 73 percent of women and men professing final vows participated in one or more parish activities and 88 percent served in one or more parish ministries before entering religious life, our presence and participation in activities that mark this special day are essential.
Prayer is essential in all of our lives, join a global effort in praying for vocations on April 21, 2024!
Quotes from the NRVC Focus groups of newer entrants
who entered religious life from 2003-2018
“I think it was the 80-year-old Brothers, the wisdom figures of the community, that were always the first in the Chapel and the last at the dining room table. I would always try to get there before them and never could. They were always there, and you could count on them.”
“I’ve noticed in the last ten years that young people seem to have a deeper interest in spirituality and what is their purpose in life. I don’t know what brings that change about, I don’t know whether it is the Holy Spirit at work, which I’m assuming that it would be, but there does seem to be a different attitude.”
“What I find most rewarding is our truly deep desire to seek God together and what God is calling us to in this time and place. I also deeply appreciate our prayer that sustains us.”
“The most rewarding aspect of religious life is our community living. In community, we pray, live, recreate, and minister together. Our cohesiveness and sense of identity as religious serving others as ministers of the Gospel is wonderful!”
Prayer for Vocations
Cultivate within our hearts, minds, and spirits–our very selves–the disposition to fully live out our vocations, which have been planted in our hearts through our baptism,
And grant us the grace to say yes to our call daily, irrespective of how we may feel from moment to moment.
Let us know that we can come to You as we are, wherever we are, and as we accompany those discerning Your call. Help us to hear and
Listen to Your voice amid the various voices vying for our attention so that we may take the right actions that lead to abundant life.
Ignite in us a hope-filled passion for service, using our gifts to bring your Reign to fruition today and always.
Never let us forget that all we have are indeed gifts from You and that we are called to…
Give all we are and have in love and service to You in our sisters and brothers. Amen. ~ NRVC website