Vocations: Keep praying
Monday, April 30, 2012
*Father David Zirilli
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Father David Zirilli, archdiocesan vocations director, poses for a photo with the Archdiocese of Miami's newly ordained transitional deacons, from left: Daniel Martin, Elvis Gonzalez and Fredy Yara.
�At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, �The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.��
These words of the Lord Jesus, as he surveyed the vast crowds following him, are no less relevant today than they were 2,000 years ago. This past Sunday, April 29, marked the 49th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, when Catholics across the globe lifted up their voices in prayer to God, the �master of the harvest,� that he might send us more �laborers� � priests, deacons and consecrated religious � for the great work of spreading the Gospel of Christ.
Each vocation is a great gift of God to his Church, and each one is first and foremost the fruit of prayer � in the parish community, within faithful Catholic families or in the many lay groups dedicated to prayer for vocations.
Here in the Archdiocese of Miami, the fruits of our prayers are being seen. The Lord has blessed us with many faithful men who have heard his voice and have responded to his call. We currently have over 50 men studying in our seminaries for the Archdiocese � men from our own parishes, schools and families and from abroad.
On April 21, three of our seminarians were ordained as transitional deacons, and they now embark upon their final year of seminary formation before, God willing, taking their place next year as priests in the Archdiocese. With our prayers and support, we encourage them and all our seminarians to continue their discernment and commitment to Christ, who calls them to follow him, leaving behind their own will and instead seeking the will of God in their lives for the good of his people.
In his address on last year�s World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, declared that people �will always have need of God, even in an age marked by technical mastery of the world and globalization; they will always need the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, the God who gathers us together in the universal Church in order to learn with him and through him life�s true meaning and in order to uphold and apply the standards of true humanity.�
Let us pray that the Lord will fill his Church with vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, that ever-more people will know, love and serve God in this world and be happy with him forever in heaven.
These words of the Lord Jesus, as he surveyed the vast crowds following him, are no less relevant today than they were 2,000 years ago. This past Sunday, April 29, marked the 49th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, when Catholics across the globe lifted up their voices in prayer to God, the �master of the harvest,� that he might send us more �laborers� � priests, deacons and consecrated religious � for the great work of spreading the Gospel of Christ.
Each vocation is a great gift of God to his Church, and each one is first and foremost the fruit of prayer � in the parish community, within faithful Catholic families or in the many lay groups dedicated to prayer for vocations.
Here in the Archdiocese of Miami, the fruits of our prayers are being seen. The Lord has blessed us with many faithful men who have heard his voice and have responded to his call. We currently have over 50 men studying in our seminaries for the Archdiocese � men from our own parishes, schools and families and from abroad.
On April 21, three of our seminarians were ordained as transitional deacons, and they now embark upon their final year of seminary formation before, God willing, taking their place next year as priests in the Archdiocese. With our prayers and support, we encourage them and all our seminarians to continue their discernment and commitment to Christ, who calls them to follow him, leaving behind their own will and instead seeking the will of God in their lives for the good of his people.
In his address on last year�s World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, declared that people �will always have need of God, even in an age marked by technical mastery of the world and globalization; they will always need the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, the God who gathers us together in the universal Church in order to learn with him and through him life�s true meaning and in order to uphold and apply the standards of true humanity.�
Let us pray that the Lord will fill his Church with vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, that ever-more people will know, love and serve God in this world and be happy with him forever in heaven.
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