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World Day of Prayer for Vocations
World Day of Prayer for Vocations is right around the corner on April 17, 2016, and I want to invite your Vocation Ministry to start discussing how you can celebrate this special day at your parish. Remember the story of the praying mothers in Lu, Italy? They were confident that God would reply generously to their pleas for vocations from their small village! They were right then, and they are still right today! Let us create an environment where parishioners young, old, single, or married can pray for vocations to the priesthood, religious life, and sacramental marriage.
Here are a few ideas:
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Adoration for Vocations
St. Matthew says in his Gospel, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you: For everyone who asks, receives; and the one that seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened" (Mt 7:7-8). Eucharistic Adoration for vocations is highly effective in increasing vocations. Many young men and women heard their first call to the priesthood or consecrated life in adoration. If your parish has perpetual adoration, consider starting Adoration for Vocations the week of April 17th. Every parish being different, this prayer activity can take many forms. Maybe you can start with an hour a month that is dedicated to vocations and then eventually move to once a week or a 24-hour period of Adoration for Vocations. Whatever it looks like at your parish, I promise it will be worthwhile.
At my own parish, St. Cecilia, our first 24-hour Adoration for Vocations occurred during World Day of Prayer for Vocations in 2013! Now, we have this special time set aside every month to beg God for more laborers in his harvest.
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Prayer Materials
If you are part of a fledgling Vocation Ministry, consider asking if you can place prayer materials on a table at the back of church, next to the bulletins, and/or on a table in your adoration chapel. Many parishioners want to pray for vocations but do not always remember to do so on their own. Handing out prayer cards at different times of the year allows the ministry to interact with parishioners in a new way, encouraging them gently to pray for vocations.
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Family Holy Hour for Vocations
This activity encourages parents to bring their children to pray, while modeling faith in action. Though this activity is in Phase IV, you could simplify it to work for a ministry in Phase II or Phase III, especially if you take out the reception. If you keep the focus on a family praying for vocations before the Blessed Sacrament, then the Holy Spirit will have plenty of opportunity to plant seeds of holiness in all who attend.
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Be assured of my prayers for you and your Vocation Ministry!
God bless you!
Rhonda Gruenewald
Vocation Ministry
Cell 281-352-4005
rhonda@vocationministry.com
www.vocationministry.com
St. Alphonsus Liguori, Pray For Us!
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