Church marks World Day of Prayer for Vocations

(April 24, 2010) The Catholic Church is observing the annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations today on the theme, "Witness Awakens Vocations." Pope Benedict had released a message for this occasion earlier in February saying the witness of a life lived joyfully and prayerfully is the key to attracting new vocations to the priesthood and religious life. He observed that while the call to priesthood and religious life comes from God, "it is also helped by the quality and depth of the personal and common witness of priests and religious. The pope said that especially for priests, but also for religious brothers and sisters, there are three areas of life where a personal example is particularly important for helping others see what answering God's call can mean:
- "Friendship with Christ" through prayer and Bible reading, which demonstrates how abiding in God's love fills a person with the desire to share that experience with others.
- "The complete gift of oneself to God," which makes a person able to give himself or herself completely to others as well. And…
- "A life of communion" and of openness to others, which means being able to draw people together, help them overcome their differences and offer each other forgiveness.