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BUILDING

A CULTURE OF VOCATIONS
BULLETIN INSERTS - Part 2

SAINTS ARE MODELS FOR US – and there are many websites offering great information! Some of them are nccs-bsa.org/activites and usccb.org.

DID YOU KNOW that the website, missioninscripture.org has reflections on our daily Scripture readings?

PRAYER FOR MARRIED COUPLES:
God of life and love,
You give us grace though married life.
Help us to see You reflected in one another.
Help us to know You, to serve You, to honor You
Through all the challenges and joys
Of this enduring partnership.
Make us forgiving friends and generous companions.
Help us guide each other toward You.
May our union be the wellspring of a deeper union with You.

IF WE LET CHRIST REIGN IN OUR SOUL, we will not become authoritarian. Rather we will serve everyone. How I like that word, service! To serve my king and, through him, all those who have been redeemed by his blood. I really wish we Christians knew how to serve, for only by serving can we know and love Christ and make him known and loved. St Josemaria Escriva

GOOD EXAMPLE is the most efficacious apostolate. You must be as lighted lanterns and shine like brilliant chandeliers among men. By your good example and your words, animate others to know and love God. St. Mary Joseph Rossello

THE EUCHARIST SHOULD BE THE HEART of every vocational journey: it is here that the love of God touches us in Christ's sacrifice, the perfect expression of love, and it is here that we learn ever anew how to live according to the 'high standard' of God's love. Scripture, prayer and the Eucharist are the precious treasure enabling us to grasp the beauty of a life spent fully in service of the Kingdom.
-Pope Benedict XVI

IF YOU WANT TO BE A CHANNEL - you must first be a reservoir. St. Bernard Spiritual reading, study of Scripture and daily Mass help fill that reservoir! There a lot of great books in our Parish Library.

PRAYERS:

O Jesus, Savior of the world, sanctify your priests and seminarians.

O Jesus, our great High Priest, hear my humble prayers on behalf of your servants. Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope, and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of their life. In their loneliness, comfort them. In their sorrows, strengthen them. In their frustrations, point out to them that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show them that they are needed by the Church; they are needed by souls; they are needed for the work of redemption. Amen

O Loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests and religious, take to your heart your children who are close to you because of the power which they have received to carry on the work of Christ in a world which needs them so much. Be their comfort, be their joy, be their strength, and especially help them to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy. Amen

THE GREATEST LOVE STORY of all time is contained in a tiny white host. Ven. Archbishop Fulton J Sheen.

RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES have bridged the gap between rich and poor for centuries. They have ministered to the poor and helped build community throughout the world. Vocations to religious life are always much needed, people who are willing to spend their lives in this much needed endeavor. Fr Joseph Delargy OCSO

THE CALL TO VOCATION is God’s, not ours. That is why it is important to pray for vocations. “PRAY therefore the LORD of the harvest send out laborers into his harvest.”

A PERSON receives “a call” not just or his own benefit but also for the benefit of others, for the welfare and comfort of many.

ANOTHER INTERESTING WEBSITE for anyone interested in religious life, or just looking for good Catholic information is anunslife.org, sponsored by the congregation of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM), a Roman Catholic religious community based in Monroe, Michigan.

THE CALL TO VOCATION is a call to follow Jesus – which can be done via married life and the single life as well. Often people are reluctant to share their feelings regarding their call, a natural response. Prayers help here as well.

IT IS NOT UNCOMMON to feel scared if you think God may be calling you to religious life. You may feel unworthy, not good enough, not holy enough, afraid of being rejected. There are good books available in the Parish Library – To Save a Thousand Souls and Tuning in to God’s Call that help with these questions.

WE HAVE TO ENCOURAGE those considering a vocation to take a risk. Like falling in love and getting married, or remaining single, there is a decision to be made and often people are afraid of commitment.

ALTHOUGH there has been a noticeable decline in Mass attendance and an increase in secularism, there is a significant number of young Catholics who are deeply committed to their faith while working in the secular world.

MYSTERIOUSLY the Holy Spirit distributes charisms to build up the church. Charisms are free gifts given to individuals (as part of the body of Christ) helping the church carry out its mission. “There are different gifts but the same Spirit, there are different ministries but the same LORD; there are different works but the same God who accomplishes all of them in everyone. To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” 1 Corith 12 4-7

IN A WORLD dominated by individualism, secularism and relativism, it is good to be reminded that in the final analysis it is not what we have but who we are that counts! It is good to be grounded in faith to make decisions in the light of truth.

LAST THINGS FIRST - at various times in the year, the Church reminds us that there will be an end to our lives and that there will be an account of how we have lived. Do you live with those last things in mind?

IN THE MELCHIZEDEK PROJECT, Catholic men meet to prayer about their lives, listen for God's voice, and get serious about answering His call. The Project's handbook, "To Save a Thousand Souls" by Father Brett Brannen, is the ultimate guidebook for discerning a vocation to the Catholic priesthood. Father Troy Przybilla is launching a group for men age 18 to 35 in the archdiocese.

DID YOU KNOW that there are special seminaries for men entering the priesthood later in life, seminaries where students range from ages 25 to 60? Many of these men have thought about being a priest at one time or another but, for whatever reason, pushed the idea to the back of their minds. They’re ordinary people, men who have been electricians, teachers, barbers, policemen, social workers, businessmen, farmers, dentists. Some are widowers, even grandfathers. Diverse though their backgrounds may be, they now share one aim in life: to become a priest and serve God’s people. Could you be one of them?

WHAT KINDS OF people become priests, sisters or brothers?
Are they uncommonly holy, unusually saint-like? No. They are people who make mistakes, people who aren’t afraid to be human while in God’s service.
Are they people who can’t face the competition and cruelty of the “real” world? No. They are people who believe that through ministry they can immerse themselves in the world and make positive changes.

IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, Samuel was awakened from sleep by the voice of God calling his name. In the New Testament, Paul was knocked off his horse. Does God call in this way today? Usually not. One seminarian describes his experience of call: “I was very involved in my parish doing youth ministry and teaching CCD. and I was happy with that. But for some reason it wasn’t enough. I had a nagging feeling that I wanted to do more for people.”

Do you feel you may be called to priesthood, sisterhood, or brotherhood? Contact the diocesan vocation office.

“COMMUNITY” describes the life religious brothers and sisters choose.
Community enables the individual to reach out to others with the strength and courage that comes from knowing, “I don’t have to do it alone. Others stand with me in this. My abilities are complemented by their gifts, confidence, wisdom and vision.” In community, sisters and brothers live out their vowed commitments, knowing that, though each member is unique, the binding force in life is each one’s personal and communal relationship with Jesus.

A GOOD WAY TO SERVE our parish is to become part of our Parish Vocation Committee, to help generate an atmosphere that is positively directed toward ministry and church vocations. The committee welcomes more members! Pray for vocations!

WHAT WILL YOU DO with your life? What are your plans? Have you ever thought of committing yourself totally to Christ? Do you think there can be anything greater than to bring Jesus to people and people to Jesus? Pope John Paul II

PRAYER TO KNOW GOD’S WILL
May it please the supreme and divine Goodness to give us all abundant grace ever to know His most holy will and perfectly to fulfill it. St. Ignatius Loyola

THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH is full of saints who, precisely with prayer, were always able to find new, creative solutions to respond to concrete human needs in every century: health, education, work, etc. Their daring, was animated by the Holy Spirit and by a strong and generous love of brothers, especially of the weakest and most underprivileged. Pope Benedict XVI

DID YOU KNOW… offering up one’s suffering and trials is a wonderful form of prayer? There are brochures in our parish library entitled “Homebound and Suffering Prayer Apostolate for Vocations.”

IT DOES NOT MATTER WHEN Jesus was aware of His mission, it’s what He did when He became aware of it. Think of what He did in THREE years!! What can you do for the Body of Christ?

A DEACON is a man with a vocation (call) from the Holy Spirit to embody and make visible the service (diakonia) of Jesus in the Church and to the world.
The deacon’s service is rooted in Love and makes God’s love visible in a three-fold way: in the ministry of the Word, in the ministry of Sacrament, and in the ministry of Charity and Justice. Through the deacon’s ministry, we see a clearer image (icon) of Christ the Servant. We see Love in action!

WHO CAN BE A DEACON?
A Catholic man actively living his faith, from any ethnic or social background, married or celibate (unmarried), engaged in almost any field of work, at least 35 years old at time of ordination, who humbly seeks to discern his vocation in and with the Church.

AT WORLD YOUTH DAY 2012 Pope Benedict XVI reminded youth that “Joy is at the heart of Christian experience… The Church’s vocation is to bring joy to the world, a joy that is authentic and enduring, the joy proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds on the night Jesus was born.”

SPIRITUAL EXERCISE and food (reading, daily prayer) are just as important to the spirit as physical exercise and food is to the body! Is your spirit being fed – or just your body?

IS JOY REALLY POSSIBLE? Many people ask themselves this question. The quest for joy can follow many paths, some even dangerous. How can we distinguish between the things that give real and lasting joy from those offering simply immediate and illusory pleasure? How can we find true joy in life, a joy that endures and does not forsake us at moments of difficulty?

DID YOU KNOW… that Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen in 1951 inaugurated a World Mission Rosary, with each decade representing one of the five continents? Pope Benedict XVI declared this Year of Faith “to lead men and women out of the desert… toward friendship with Christ who gives fullness to life.” He has asked us to be part of a great Prayer Movement including the World Mission Rosary. You can read more at onefamilyinmission.org.

WE AS BAPTIZED Catholics believe God is at work in us. How we live our life is the goal of “discernment.” Discernment simply means good taste and judgment.

RELIGIOUS ORDERS are receiving younger members and those who are more educated than those of previous years. In a recent study surveying Religious Orders for men and women in the U.S., administered in 2011 by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the findings brought great hope for Religious vocations:

IN 2011, the average age of women professing perpetual vows was 39, 4 years younger than those surveyed the previous year. This was the first year men were included in the survey and the average age of those entering Religious Orders was 42. When the participants were asked at what age they first considered a religious vocation, the average age was 19.

OVER THE CENTURIES, the Church has exhorted the faithful to do everything they can for the priests who trace their priestly ancestry to Christ’s ordination of the apostles at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday night. Catholics are to pray for priests. They are to make sacrifices for priests. They should have Masses said for priests. They should encourage priests to remain faithful to their high vocation and do everything in their power to ensure the sanctity of priests. Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. - www.therealpresence.org

“GOSPEL” means God has broken His silence, God has spoken, God exists. This fact as such is salvation, God knows us, God loves us, He has entered into history. Jesus is His Word, God with us, God shows us that He loves us, Who suffers with us until His death and He resurrects. This is the Gospel itself. God has spoken, is no longer the great unknown, but He showed Himself and this is salvation. Pope Benedict XVI

WHAT IS A SECULAR INSTITUTE? Single or married lay men and women, and also some priests, belong to secular institutes. They make a commitment to live the “evangelical counsels” of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Members do not necessarily live together as a Community. Their goal is to be a transforming Christ-like presence in society.

WHEN suffering in body or spirit offer your pain fin your own words for a vocation intention. Jesus offered his suffering on the cross for our sins. Consider offering yours to obtain grace for our seminarians and novices to persevere in vocation discernment and for generosity in the single life. There are free folders in the library entitled Homebound and Suffering Prayer Apostolate.

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