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The Fourth Sunday of Easter is sometimes called Good Shepherd Sunday. In the Catholic Church, we celebrate this day as World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
The Scripture passage underlying this day is from the Gospels of Matthew (9: 38) and Luke (10:2): “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest.”
And although every human has one or more vocations or “calls” from God, this day focuses on specific Church vocations such as the call to the ordained ministries (priesthood and diaconate); the consecrated life in all its forms (male and female religious life, societies of apostolic life, consecrated virginity, & secular institutes); and to the missionary life.
2023 marks the 60th Anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.
Today is an incredibly interesting time to be a priest, permanent deacon, Sister, or Brother, for while the number of Catholics increases, the number of priests, Sisters, and Brothers are rapidly decreasing. Today, many orders have deliberately stopped taking candidates, opting to simply go out of existence. Others are combining with other orders. Others have gone out of existence.
Fortunately, however, Church leaders are acutely aware of the “crisis” in religious vocations. The big question is: will they respond in harmony to the Holy Spirit? Many people believe that there are many people called to the priesthood and permanent diaconate, but Church leaders have put up obstacles preventing them from serving. Profound paradigm shifts will be necessary. Are we ready as “Church” to answer the call?
In the photo above, we see two Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart visiting Fr. Bob in his study in Reitoca, F.M., Honduras. On the left is Sr. Dolores Adino, and on the right is Sr. Lidia Nolasco.
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