PORTLAND –The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week on Nov. 6-12. It is an annual celebration dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life through prayer and education, and to renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations.
St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Bangor will host Fr. Larry Richards for a four-day mission at St. John Church on 217 York Street in Bangor on Monday, Nov. 7, through Thursday, Nov. 10, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. each evening. Fr. Greg Dube, director of vocations and seminarians for the Diocese of Portland, has set aside seats at the mission for young men discerning the priesthood and invites them to join him and experience the mission, whether it be for one evening or four. On Monday, Nov. 6, a pizza dinner and social hour for discerners will be held at 5 p.m., prior to the evening presentation. For more information, feel free to email Fr. Greg at [email protected]. Each night features a different theme to draw participants closer to God’s love, improve prayer lives, discuss love of others and the importance of family, and heal.
“National Vocation Awareness Week reminds us that the encouragement and formation of vocations in the Church is a responsibility of all of us. Families, communities, and parishes must help our young people to hear the call that God gives to serve the Church,” said Bishop Robert Deeley. “When we see young people who show signs of love for the Eucharist and a desire to serve others, invite them to pray about what God could be telling them to do with their lives. I encourage you, whether you are a parent, priest, parishioner, or member of a religious community, to invite someone you know to consider a religious vocation. We all have a vocation, a call from God to live out our lives in a particular way. In helping our young people realize their particular call, we might also ask God to assist us in living better the call he has given us so that we might better serve him by the example of our lives.”
“When we speak of ‘vocation’, then, it is not just about choosing this or that way of life, devoting one’s life to a certain ministry or being attracted by the charism of a religious family, movement or ecclesial community. It is about making God’s dream come true, the great vision of fraternity that Jesus cherished when he prayed to the Father ‘that they may all be one’ (Jn 17:21). Each vocation in the Church, and in a broader sense in society, contributes to a common objective: to celebrate among men and women that harmony of manifold gifts that can only be brought about by the Holy Spirit,” said Pope Francis in his message for the 59th annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations. “Priests, consecrated men and women, lay faithful: let us journey and work together in bearing witness to the truth that one great human family united in love is no utopian vision, but the very purpose for which God created us.”
For more information about discerning a vocation, visit on the Diocese of Portland’s Office of Vocations website at www.portlanddiocese.org/vocations or view these additional resources:
Prayers for Vocations (Spanish)
Recommended Reading List for Discerners
Information on Different Forms of Consecrated Life in the Catholic Church
National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors
National Religious Vocation Conference
Religious Life Today (National Religious Vocations Conference)