The Province’s vocation director encourages friars to highlight this year’s annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations through homilies, intercessions and bulletin announcements.
NEW YORK — April 25 marks the 47th annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Founded by Pope Paul VI in 1963, the day of prayer not only highlights vocations to priesthood and religious life, but invites the Church to honor the vocation of all Christians given at baptism.
In his message announcing this year’s World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Benedict XVI underscored the importance of our witness when it comes to attracting vocations: “The fruitfulness of our efforts to promote vocations depends primarily on God’s free action, yet, as pastoral experience confirms, it is also helped by the quality and depth of the personal and communal witness of those who have already answered the Lord’s call to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life, for their witness is then able to awaken in others a desire to respond generously to Christ’s call.”
As we pray for vocations, let us also keep in mind the power of the witness of our Franciscan life to attract vocations to the Order.
The National Coalition for Church Vocations has published sample bulletin announcements, prayers for vocations, intercessions, and homily hints. Assistance in using these matierials can be obtained through HNP’s Franciscan Vocation Ministry at 800-677-7788.
— Fr. Brian, HNP’s vocation director since 2007, is based at the Provincial Office on West 129 West 31st Street in New York. He can be reached via e-mail at vocation@hnp.org and can be followed using the blog and the Facebook page of the Francsican Vocation Ministry.