Dear Friends:
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is called the Good Shepherd Sunday, it is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life. Today we pray with the whole Church for priests and Religious. The present day situation with parishes being closed or twinned with others because of the shortage of priests is certainly an alarming and disconcerting factor in our parish life.
Although lay people are engaged in pastoral work and Church administration which helps tremendously, still the fact remains there are not enough priests, and the number of those who are still able to work is becoming smaller. What can we do?
- Prayer. Our daily prayers should contain a prayer for vocations. Once a year on this day is not enough. We have to plead to God with our prayer
- Create a Family climate in which vocations can grow. Vatican II Says: “The whole Christian community shares the responsibility for fostering vocations. The first step is to live in a full Christian manner. Families with a lively spirit of faith, love and reverence contribute greatly to this work,” St. Vincent Pallotti proclaims, “God gave me holy parents.” We thank God for Lucas Drapal of our parish who will be ordained on June 22nd at St. Mary’s cathedral. We encourage you to attend his First Mass in our parish on June 24 at 11:00 am
- Contribute in any way possible to the support of vocations. The success of a Sports team depends greatly on scouts to spot players which are good prospects for development. We invite all of you to become Scouts for Vocations. We need your help. If we want priests in the future they cannot be imported they have to be home grown.
