60th World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations which was declared by Paul VI in 1963, Pope Francis shared his thoughts about the meaning and nature of vocation. He reflected 7 important points about vocation to the priesthood and religious life.

1. Vocation is mission. Vocation to the priesthood and religious life is inseparable from the call and mission of Christ. The prayer that we do for vocations is a way of supporting and working for the mission of Christ as well as fulfilling the ministry of Christ. One of the ways to continue the mission of Christ is to pray for vocations. Pope Francis said: “This providential initiative seeks to assist the members of the People of God, as individuals and as communities, to respond to the call and mission that the Lord entrusts to each of us in today’s world, amid its afflictions and its hopes, its challenges and its achievements.” Pope Francis said: “God’s call, we said, includes a “sending”. There is no vocation without mission. There is no happiness and full self-realization unless we offer others the new life that we have found. God’s call to love is an experience that does not allow us to remain silent.”

2. Vocation is a Gift. The Church views vocation as a gift that is linked to faith and grace. The response an individual does to the one who calls is act of faith and importantly views his or her vocation as a gift. It is faith that sees vocation as a gift and therefore through it, the priesthood and the religious life become instruments of God’s grace. At the start of this ecclesial act, Pope Francis had the theme this year 2023: “Vocation: Grace and Mission.” He said: “This Day is a precious opportunity for recalling with wonder that the Lord’s call is grace, complete gift, and at the same time a commitment to bring the Gospel to others.”

3. Vocation is the Work of the Spirit. Pope Francis secures the reason that it is the Spirit who motivates and animates the person to continue the ministry of Christ. The Spirit works more and more in the Church through priests and religious who are called by God in their hearts and by their names. a) It is the Spirit that makes them “witnesses” who can closely connect “the life of grace, as experienced in the sacraments and ecclesial communion, to our apostolate in the world.” b) It is also the Spirit who reveals that “Christians are challenged to respond to existential peripheries and human dramas, ever conscious that the mission is God’s work.” c) It is the Spirit who makes them realize that they cannot do the mission of Christ alone but in a collective manner. The Pope said that mission “is not carried out by us alone, but always in ecclesial communion, together with our brothers and sisters, and under the guidance of the Church’s pastors.” He further said: “In the course of our lives, this call, which is part of the fibre of our being and the secret of our happiness, comes to us by the work of the Holy Spirit in ever new ways. It enlightens our minds, strengthens our wills, fills us with amazement and sets our hearts afire. At times, the Spirit comes to us in completely unexpected ways.”

4. Vocation is God’s Call. Pope Francis reminds the Universal Church that this call to pray together for vocations to the priesthood and religious life is primarily a call and initiative by God who is the source of service and sacrifice. It is not our call but God's call. He recalls St. Paul who wrote the Letter to the Ephesians 1:4-5 to solidly remind the Church and instill in everyone’s mind that vocation is a call that emanates from God because in Christ, God the Father: a) “chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight in love.” b) “destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will” (Eph 1:4-5). c) “conceived” us in his image and likeness and desires us to be his sons and daughters” d) “created by love, for love and with love, and we are made for love.”

5. Vocation is a Response to God. Vocation is a response to God’s initiative to redeem the world and to make the world experience the life of grace. If it is a call, then it expects a response. Yet, the response is not just a physical response but a spiritual response of faith. Pope Francis clarified: “the Lord’s initiative and his gracious gift call for a response on our part. Vocation is “the interplay between divine choice and human freedom”, a dynamic and exciting relationship between God and the human heart.”

6. Vocation is a Direction of Life. Pope Francis is walking in the footsteps of Christ. It is a life for the Lord and a life for our neighbor. Vocation leads one to be a witness of Christ in “words and actions” in order to receive that joy God offers. Vocation directs the person towards God’s mercy. The Pope said: “That mission finds expression in works of material and spiritual mercy, in a welcoming and gentle way of life that reflects closeness, compassion and tenderness, in contrast to the culture of waste and indifference. By being a neighbour, like the Good Samaritan (cf. Lk 10:25-37), we come to understand the heart of our Christian vocation: to imitate Jesus Christ, who came to serve, not to be served (cf. Mk 10:45).”

7. Vocation is all about an Encounter with God. Vocation happens when there is a profound experience of God. A person receives a call from God because he has encountered Jesus from the heart. And from that encounter, the person begins to share about the grace of the encounter, the person behind the encounter, and the mission that the encounter brings. Pope Francis said: “This missionary activity does not arise simply from our own abilities, plans and projects, nor from our sheer willpower or our efforts to practice the virtues; it is the result of a profound experience in the company of Jesus.” Besides, “Only then can we testify to a Person, a Life, and thus become “apostles”. Only then can we regard ourselves as “sealed, even branded, by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising, healing and freeing” (Evangelii Gaudium, 273).