Pope ordains 9 priests on World Day of Prayer for Vocations
(April 30, 3012) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday marked the Catholic Church’s World Day
of Prayer for Vocations by ordaining nine new priests for the Diocese of Rome in St
Peter’s Basilica. The Church marks World Day of Prayer for Vocations every year on
Good Shepherd Sunday, which falls on the 4th Sunday of Easter. In his
homily the Pope explained that the nine young men are, in fact, “no different from
other young people” apart from the fact that “they had been deeply touched by the
beauty of God’s love, and could not help but respond with their whole lives.” Regarding
their ordination as a sign of God’s “provident and faithful love for the Church,”
he asked pilgrims to pray that “all young people be attentive to the voice of God
that speaks inwardly to their heart and calls them to break away from everything to
serve Him.” “The Lord is always calling” he said, adding that “many times we do not
listen” due to being “distracted by many things” or by being “afraid to hear the voice
of the Lord because we think it might take away our freedom.” The answer to these
fears is the recognition that our freedom is “fully realized” in responding to love
and, in particular, to the love of God. The Pope commended all those discerning such
a vocation to the Virgin Mary, calling her “mother of every vocation in the Church.”