Message of the Holy Father for the 48th World Day of Prayer for Vocations
(February 10, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI said that it is indeed challenging today to
accept the invitation of Jesus to follow him and the Lord does not fail to call people
at every stage of life to share in his mission and to serve the Church in the ordained
ministry and in the consecrated life. The Church is called to safeguard this gift,
to esteem it and love it, he added. At the same time it is essential that every local
Church become more sensitive and attentive to the pastoral care of vocations, helping
children and young people in particular at every level of family, parish and associations
as Jesus did with his disciples, to grow into a genuine and affectionate friendship
with the Lord, cultivated through personal and liturgical prayer; to grow in familiarity
with the sacred Scriptures and thus to listen attentively and fruitfully to the word
of God. The Pope said this in his message given at Rome on Thursday, for the 48th
World Day of Prayer for Vocations, to be celebrated on 15 May 2011, the Fourth Sunday
of Easter. He invited the faithful to reflect on the theme: “Proposing Vocations in
the Local Church”. Pope Paul VI instituted the World Day of Prayer for Vocations
celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Easter on the 11th April 1964 and seventy years ago
Pope Pius XII established the Pontifical Work of Priestly Vocations. The Pontiff
explained how Jesus called his disciples to follow him and trained them with love
and care and before ascending into heaven he sent them out to the whole world with
the command to make disciples of all nations. The Pope explained that “Proposing
Vocations in the Local Church” means having the courage, through an attentive and
suitable concern for vocations, to point out this challenging way of following Christ
which, because it is so rich in meaning, is capable of engaging the whole of one’s
life. The Pontiff called on the Bishops to “foster priestly and religious vocations
as much as possible, and should take a special interest in missionary vocations”,
to ensure the continuity and growth of their saving mission in Christ.