Friday, January 17, 2014

Pope's message for World Day of Prayer for Vocations 2014


The 51st World Day of Prayer for Vocations takes place on May 11th, 2014. This special day of prayer is better known to us as Good Shepherd Sunday or Vocations Sunday. In anticipation of the day of prayer, Pope Francis has issued a message to coincide with the day. The message is one of encouragement, summed up in this paragraph:

"Today too, Jesus lives and walks along the paths of ordinary life in order to draw near to everyone, beginning with the least, and to heal us of our infirmities and illnesses. I turn now to those who are well disposed to listen to the voice of Christ that rings out in the Church and to understand what their own vocation is. I invite you to listen to and follow Jesus, and to allow yourselves to be transformed interiorly by his words, which “are spirit and life” (Jn 6:62). Mary, the Mother of Jesus and ours, also says to us: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). It will help you to participate in a communal journey that is able to release the best energies in you and around you. A vocation is a fruit that ripens in a well cultivated field of mutual love that becomes mutual service, in the context of an authentic ecclesial life. No vocation is born of itself or lives for itself. A vocation flows from the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people, in the experience of fraternal love. Did not Jesus say: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35)?"

For the full text of the message for the world day of prayer for vocations, click here.

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