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New pastors always bring new ideas—some we like and others, well, we learn to accept.
Our parish’s new pastor (as of July 2018) is getting parishioners involved in praying for vocations. Father Vince does this through a parish prayer for vocations and a vocations prayer chalice. We pray a vocations prayer at every Mass. Every week at one of the Sunday Masses, Father Vince presents a vocations prayer chalice to an individual or family. They take the chalice home as a focus for prayer that week and return it the following weekend. (This happens to be one of his new ideas that I like.)
We celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week (11/3–11/9) this week. It’s a good time to consider how we are fostering vocation awareness in the young people in our care. The article “Encouraging Young People to Discern God’s Call” by Lisanne V. Jensen appeared in Catechist magazine last fall. Lisanne offers age-specific suggestions for incorporating vocations into catechesis—from preschool through high school. Go to the websites of the National Religious Vocation Conference and Catholic Extension for additional resources.
Loving God, through Baptism, you call each of us to the vocation to love. Help us to encourage the young people in our lives to discover your plan for them—how you are calling them to share your love with others. Make us good role models of commitment and loving service. We pray in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.
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We have been doing this at church also—since 2015.
Dorothy,
That’s great to know! I think it’s a great way to keep the community praying for vocations!