World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Today is both Good Shepherd Sunday (see the Liturgical Readings), as well as the 47th World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

From Pope Benedict's special message for today:

"God's free and gracious initiative encounters and challenges the human responsibility of all those who accept his invitation to become, through their own witness, the instruments of his divine call."

There is also a brand new website launched today by the U.S. Bishops: For Your Vocation. Looks like a helpful initiative!

It was neat (and fitting) that myself and two siblings portrayed saints in first person for a Religious Education "Family Day" this morning. I was St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, patroness of the Catholic Education System in America, and the first American-born Saint to be canonized.

Let us pray for many holy vocations: to matrimony, to priesthood, and to consecrated life, that we may build the Kingdom with all that we are!

Yesterday: Presentation of the Lord and "World Day for Consecrated Life"

I learned last night that it was the 14th World Day for Consecrated Life. How fitting and beautiful to celebrate this on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord!

Today I'm reading Pope Benedict's homily given yesterday on this theme. Here is my favorite paragraph...

Consecrated persons are called in a particular way to be witnesses of this mercy of the Lord, in which man finds his salvation. They have the vivid experience of God's forgiveness, because they have the awareness of being saved persons, of being great when they recognize themselves to be small, of feeling renewed and enveloped by the holiness of God when they recognize their own sin. Because of this, also for the man of today, consecrated life remains a privileged school of "compunction of heart," of the humble recognition of one's misery but, likewise, it remains a school of trust in the mercy of God, in his love that never abandons. In reality, the closer we come to God, and the closer one is to him, the more useful one is to others. Consecrated persons experience the grace, mercy and forgiveness of God not only for themselves, but also for their brothers, being called to carry in their heart and prayer the anxieties and expectations of men, especially of those who are far from God.

There is an inspiring related post on the Faith and Family blog, too.

Open Wide the Doors...

"Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away and He gives you everything. When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundred-fold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ — and you will find true life."

-Pope Benedict XVI