Celebrate The World Day of Prayer for Vocations This Sunday!

Vocare (vo-CAR-ay), a Latin word, which means “to call”, is where we get the word, “vocation.” All of us have a vocation. That means we are all called to do something great with our lives through service that helps us to fulfill our call to be great saints for Jesus Christ. Most are called to marriage. Some are called to live out the single life. Others are called to the priesthood or religious life. While a job is what we do, our vocation points to our identity in Jesus of who we are through our service to God and to our fellow man. In other words, you don’t do marriage. You are married. I don’t do priesthood. I am a priest, and I and my brother priests are complemented by, supported, and prayed for by you – the people of God through your God-given vocations of marriage, religious life, single life, as well as through the state of lay-consecrated virginity. 

Speaking of vocations and prayer, this Sunday, April 22nd is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. So what are we doing about it?!?! One important thing to do as I mentioned is prayer; prayer for an increase in vocations to marriage, religious life, and to the priesthood. Another important thing, for example, is to have Masses celebrated for vocations, including the priesthood. 

Our pastor, Fr. Tindall, has designated three specific occasions in which Masses be celebrated for the priesthood and religious life: 

1). One 6:30am Mass per week, 

2). One Mass on the first Sunday of the month, and 

3). One Mass on Sunday, April 22nd, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. 

A goal was established by Fr. Joe Horn, the Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Detroit (AOD), to have each parish in the AOD offer a monthly Mass for vocations to the priesthood. Having already established that here at St. Michael the Archangel, we are excited to help the cause and move closer to help Fr. Horn attain that archdiocesan goal. In addition to prayer and Masses, an individual (or a parish in general) could have a holy hour offered in prayer, specifically for priests, religious, or for the married on a particular day of the month. Furthermore and under the leadership and initiative of our second grade teacher, Mrs. (Janice) Filiatraut, the traveling, vocations chalice has been making its rounds through the homes of our grade school kids on a weekly basis who pray for vocations nightly at the dinner table with their parents.

In my own life, I have been blessed to be a beneficiary of prayer for my vocation to the priesthood through being spiritually adopted by an anonymous parishioner in the AOD. You can spiritually adopt a priest to pray for too. The grassroots movement founded by Mindy DeWitt, a young parishioner from Divine Child Parish in Dearborn, known as “Parishioners for Priests: Supporting Priests through Prayer,” seeks to assign a vocation prayer warrior to every priest in the AOD, but in an anonymous way. When a priest is spiritually adopted by an AOD parishioner, a card is mailed to the priest to let him know that he is being prayed for. I was pleasantly surprised yet quite grateful when I received a spiritual bouquet one day in the mail, which consisted of a post card telling me of all of the prayers – rosaries, holy hours, and Masses that were offered for me and my vocation to priesthood. Thank you Jesus, and may God richly bless that person and all of you who have prayed for vocations to the priesthood, including my own. Through our prayers, may God abundantly bless us with an increase and renewed dedication to the vocations of marriage, religious life, and the priesthood.

With Gratitude in Our Eternal and Great High Priest, Jesus Christ,

– Fr. Jeff

Five Resources:

1. Adopt a Priest: Email parishioners4priests@gmail.com to adopt a priest. You can also find the “priest of the day” on Facebook at “Parishioners for Priests,” on Twitter at @4priests and Instagram @parishioners4priests. Or send a letter to P.O. Box 467, Dearborn Heights, MI 48127.
2. “Divine Child Parishioner Organizes Grassroots Effort to Pray for Priests,”- article by Dan Meloy (1-11-18)                    
3. Detroit Priest – resource for discerning a vocation to the priesthood
4. Vianney Vocations
5. World Day of Prayer for Vocations