Holy Hour With Prayers for Vocations

Opening Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, (cf. Pastores Dabo Vobis, 1)

you promised always to give your Church shepherds.

In faith, we know your promise cannot fail.

Trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church,

we pray You raise up sacred ministers from your holy people,

that the sacrifice in which you give your body and blood

may be daily renewed in the world until we come to that kingdom

where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

After a period of silent prayer, the Liturgy of the Word begins.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading

A reading from the first Book of Samuel (3:1-10 )

During the time young Samuel was minister to the Lord under Eli,

a revelation of the Lord was uncommon and vision infrequent.

One day Eli was asleep in his usual place.

His eyes had lately grown so week that he could not see.

The lamp of God was not yet extinguished,

and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord

where the ark of God was.

The Lord called to Samuel, who answered, "Here I am."

Samuel ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me."

"I did not call you," Eli said. "Go back to sleep."

So he went back to sleep.

Again the Lord called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli.

"Here I am," he said. "You called me."

But Eli answered, "I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep."

At that time Samuel was not familiar with the Lord,

because the Lord had not revealed anything to him as yet.

The Lord called to Samuel again, for the third time.

Getting up and going to Eli, he said, "Here I am. You called me."

Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the youth.

So he said to Samuel, "Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply,

‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’"

When Samuel went to sleep in his place,

the Lord came and revealed his presence,

calling out as before, "Samuel, Samuel!"

Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

The word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm ( Psalm 16)

R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.

Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;

I say to the Lord, "My Lord are you."

O Lord, my allotted portion and my cup.

you it is who hold fast to my lot.

R. You are my inheritance, O Lord

I bless the Lord who counsels me;

even in the night my heart extorts me.

I set the Lord ever before me;

with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

R. You are my inheritance, O Lord

You will show me the path of life,

fullness of joys in your presence,

the delights at your right hand forever.

R. Guide me Lord, along the everlasting way.

After a period of silent prayer:

Gospel

+ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (1:35-42) Follow me.

John was standing with two of his disciples,

and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,

"Behold, the Lamb of God."

The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.

Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them,"What are you looking for?"

They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher),

"where are you staying?"

He said to them, "Come, and you will see."

So they went and saw where he was staying,

and they stayed with him that day.

It was about four in the afternoon.

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,

was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.

He first found his own brother Simon and told him,

"We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Christ.

Then he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said,

"You are Simon son of John;

you will be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).

The Gospel of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God

A period of silent prayer

Intercessions

Leader God chooses those whom He wills, let us pray the Lord to send forth workers into his vineyard:

All: Lord, we trust in you.

Leader As you called Abram to be the father of many nations, inspire young people to answer your call.

All: Lord, we trust in you.

Leader: As you called Moses, tending the flocks of Jethro, provide worthy pastors to your flock in our day.

All: Lord, we trust in you.

Leader As you called Aaron to serve your temple, call men to serve your Church in the image of Christ.

All: Lord, we trust in you.

Leader As you spoke to awake Samuel with your call, open the ears of your chosen ones.

All: Lord, we trust in you.

Leader: As every High Priest was taken from among men, so call men to offer the holy and living sacrifice.

All: Lord, we trust in you.

Leader As Elisha was anointed by the prophet Elijah, give those you call strength to follow you without looking back.

All: Lord, we trust in you.

Leader As you called the Apostles to be ambassadors for Christ, so sends us fervent preachers to strengthen our spirits.

All: Lord, we trust in you.

After a period of silent prayer:

Reading

The following reading may be read by a minister:

Pastores Dabo Vobis1

The Church should daily take up Jesus' persuasive and demanding invitation to "pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Mt. 9:38). Obedient to Christ's command, the Church first of all makes a humble profession of faith: In praying for vocations, conscious of her urgent need of them for her very life and mission, she acknowledges that they are a gift of God and, as such, must be asked for by a ceaseless and trusting prayer of petition. This prayer, the pivot of all pastoral work for vocations, is required' not only of individuals but of entire ecclesial communities. There can be no doubt about the importance of individual initiatives of prayer, of special times set apart for such prayer -- beginning with the World Day of Prayer for Vocations -- and of the explicit commitment of persons and groups particularly concerned with the problem of priestly vocations. Today the prayerful expectation of new vocations should become an ever more continual and widespread habit within the entire Christian community and in every one of its parts. Thus it will be possible to relive the experience of the apostles in the upper room who, in union with Mary, prayerfully awaited the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14), who will not fail to raise up once again in the People of God "worthy ministers for the altar, ardent but gentle proclaimers of the Gospel" (Roman Missal, Collect of the Mass for Vocations to Holy Orders).

In addition, the liturgy, as the summit and source of the Church's existence (cf. Vatican II, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 10) and in particular of all Christian prayer, plays an influential and indispensable role in the pastoral work of promoting vocations. The liturgy is a living experience of God's gift and a great school for learning how to respond to his call. As such, every liturgical celebration, and especially the Eucharist, reveals to us the true face of God and grants us a share in the paschal mystery, in the "hour" for which Jesus came into the world and toward which he freely and willingly made his way in obedience to the Father's call (cf. Jn. 13:1). It shows us the Church as a priestly people and a community structured in the variety and complementarity of its charisms and vocations. The redemptive sacrifice of Christ, which the Church celebrates in mystery, accords a particular value to suffering endured in union with the Lord Jesus. The synod fathers invited us never to forget that "through the offering of sufferings, which are so frequent in human life, the Christian who is ill offers himself as a victim to God, in the image of Christ, who has consecrated himself for us all" (cf. Jn. 17:19) and that "the offering of sufferings for this intention is a great help in fostering vocations."

In carrying out her prophetic role, the Church feels herself irrevocably committed to the task of proclaiming and witnessing to the Christian meaning of vocation, or as we might say, to "the Gospel of vocation." Here too, she feels the urgency of the apostle's exclamation: "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!" (1 Cor. 9:16) This admonishment rings out especially for us who are pastors but, together with us, it touches all educators in the Church. Preaching and catechesis must always show their intrinsic vocational dimension: The word of God enlightens believers to appreciate life as a response to God's call and leads them to embrace in faith the gift of a personal vocation.

After a period of silent prayer:

Litany of the Holy Eucharist

Lord, have mercy.

R. Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

R. Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

R. Lord, have mercy.

"The Bread that I will give is my flesh for the life world" Jn 6:51

R. My Lord and my God!

"My flesh is food indeed and my Blood is drink indeed" Jn 6:55

R. My Lord and my God!

"Take this, all of you and eat it: This is my Body which will be given up for you…

This is the cup of my Blood, the Blood of the new and everlasting covenant" Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I)

R. My Lord and my God!

"The cup of blessing that we bless – it is not the sharing of the Blood of Christ?

And the bread that we break – Is it not the partaking of the Body of the Lord?" 1 Cor. 10:16

R. My Lord and my God!

"[Heretics] abstain from the Eucharist… because they do not believe that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered for our sins and who the Father in his bounty raised up again." Saint Ignatius of Antioch

R. My Lord and my God!

"[This Eucharist] has been blessed by the word of prayer instituted by Him, and from it our flesh and blood by assimilation are nourished. This, we are taught, is both the flesh and blood of Jesus incarnate." Saint Justin Martyr

R. My Lord and my God!

"The seeming bread is not bread, though sensible to taste, but the Body of Christ; and the seeming wine is not wine, though the taste would have it so, but the Blood of Christ." Saint Cyril of Jerusalem

R. My Lord and my God!

"You ought so to partake at the Holy Table as to have no doubt at all concerning the reality of the body and blood of Christ. For what is taken in the mouth is that which is believed by faith, and it is vain for them to respond ‘Amen’ who dispute against that which is taken." Saint Leo the Great

R. My Lord and my God!

"Sight, touch, taste are each thee deceived; hearing alone safely is believed." Saint Thomas Aquinas

R. My Lord and my God!

The presiding minister then says:

Leader: Now let us offer together the prayer our Lord Jesus Christ taught us:

All: Our Father…

Period of silence until Benediction

1 Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Pastores Dabo Vobis, no. 38.

Email us at bcl@usccb.org