The above illustration depicts Jesus calling Peter and Andrew to follow him as his disciples. God calls everyone to follow him, but some are called to special roles in the Church. November 5 to 11 is National Vocation Awareness Week. It’s pretty obvious that more priests are needed to minister to us. Some priests now care for two or more parishes. The number of consecrated men and women in the United States is severely reduced.
Jesus commanded, “The harvest is great but the laborers are few. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers.” Besides praying that more young men and women answer God’s call to special ministry in the Church, be more direct. Do you know young people who seem to have the qualifications to be a priest, deacon, or religious sister or brother? Go ahead and tell them that you think they would make a good one. They may be waiting for a nudge like yours to set them on the path God invites them to follow.
To celebrate this week, I offer a unique video about a basketball tournament for seminarians. It follows the Saint John’s Seminary of Boston. One of the participants, Deacon Marcelo Ferrari, noted, “We are excited to show a youthful church on fire with faith. By coming to the basketball tournament, you get to see this bright future of the Church. There’s a lot of young men living the joy of the Gospel and following Christ.”
Enjoy and be inspired to pray for young people like these:
