World Day of Prayer for Vocations

This Sunday is World Day of Prayer for Vocations--

What will you do? 

Pray of course! 
You could read the Pope Benedict the XVI's message for the day:
http://www.news.va/en/news/message-of-the-holy-father-for-the-49th-world-day-
Here are a couple excerpts I picked out for you:

"You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you." Quoted from St. Augustine's Confessions

"I fervently exhort you to pay close attention to those members of parish communities, associations and ecclesial movements who sense a call to the priesthood or to a special consecration. It is important for the Church to create the conditions that will permit many young people to say “yes” in generous response to God’s loving call."

Fr. DeAscanis and Cardinal Keeler

This past Sunday I went to the 150th Anniversary celebration for St. Agnes Hospital at the Basilica of the Assumption in Baltimore.  It was a beautiful celebration of the Daughters of Charity who founded the hospital and remain part of it and the wonderful staff who carry on the mission of Christ's healing in a solid Catholic atmosphere.  I haven't been given the photos from the photographer yet, so you will need to be satisfied with this photo of my pastor and Cardinal Keeler (who concelebrated at my sister's wedding).

So how does that fit with the day of prayer for vocations do you ask??  Well when we pray, we pray that young people today may be open to the Lord's call and that those in the Church will call forward young people who exhibit a sign of a call.

But there is the prayer of gratitude also!  We thank God for those that came before us--who showed us the path of holiness, whose lives inspire us to something greater.  I am so grateful to those who have called me on to grow spiritually, intellectually and emotionally--those who still are on this earth, those who have passed on and those who never met me.

Recently, our novices moved from Evansville, Indiana to a newly renovated place in St. Louis.  Yes, we call our novitiate "seminary" and our novices "seminary sisters", but it is the same thing.  We used those terms when we were founded in the 1600s so we wouldn't appear to be nuns and be required to be cloisterd--since we were founded to go out and serve those living in poverty.

So, here is the link to the St. Louis Catholic newspaper with a slide show of the blessing.

http://stlouisreview.com/article/2012-04-03/old-st-james-convent

Let us continue to pray for more vocations and that Catholics have the courage to invite a young person to consider a vocation of the Church.