World Day of Prayer for Vocations
World Day of Prayer for Vocations
On this 62nd 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.
Participating in parish life is a way individuals can discern their vocation and receive prayerful support from parishioners. Matter of fact, people in parishes are more likely to encourage someone to discern their vocation than their own family members! Consider connecting with parishes and asking for opportunities to share information and resources about religious vocations. Examples include:
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.
Of particular note, respondents to the 2020 NRVC/CARA Study of Recent Vocations to Religious Life reported that the day-to-day rhythm of communal prayer is paramount in community life. Below are the types of prayer preferred by newer entrants:
Prayer is essential in all of our lives, join a global effort in praying for vocations on May 11, 2025!
"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."
"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!"
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.
Please note: NRVC members can download these resources in the Member Toolbox as a benefit or purchase them through these links.
I Hope You Find prayer card in Spanish
Hearing God's Call: Thirty days of vocation discernment booklet
Listening to the Call prayer cards
Responsibilities of Members for Vocation Ministry Handout
VISION Vocation Network articles on prayer
Resources offered by the USCCB
Resources offered by Serra International
Rosary for Vocations with the Luminous Mysteries
In this sense, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations has a synodal character: amid the variety of our charisms, we are called to listen to one another and to journey together in order to acknowledge them and to discern where the Spirit is leading us for the benefit of all.
At this point in time, then, our common journey is bringing us to the Jubilee Year of 2025. Let us travel as pilgrims of hope towards the Holy Year, for by discovering our own vocation and its place amid the different gifts bestowed by the Spirit, we can become for our world messengers and witnesses of Jesus’ dream of a single human family, united in God’s love and in the bond of charity, cooperation and fraternity.
This is, in the end, the goal of every vocation: to become men and women of hope. As individuals and as communities, amid the variety of charisms and ministries, all of us are called to embody and communicate the Gospel message of hope in a world marked by epochal challenges.
2024 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message
2023 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message
2022 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message
2021 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message
2020 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message
2019 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message
2018 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message
2017 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message.
2016 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message.
2015 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message.
2014 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message.
2013 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message.
2012 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message.
2011 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message.
2010 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message.
2009 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message.
2008 World Day of Prayer for Vocations Papal message.
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2 Comments
Mrs. Margaret Cartwright
11:22:44 - 2022. Apr 13
Love the new prayers thank you
Sr. Anne Marie O'Sullivan P.B.V.M.
19:17:48 - 2021. Apr 19
Lovely Prayers Much appreciated Ann-Marie
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