49th World Day of Prayer for Vocations

This Sunday, April 29th, in union with the Universal Church, the Congregation of Holy Cross celebrates the 49^th World Day of Prayer for Vocations. This year, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has invited us to reflect on the theme of Vocations, the Gift of the Love of God.

In Holy Cross, our Constitutions speak to this beautiful reality that our vocations come to us as a gift of God’s love for us. They remind us that our religious vows “as an act of love for the God who first loved us” (5: 43).

Together with Pope Benedict XVI, we echo then that “we need to open our lives to this love. It is to the perfection of the Father’s love (cf. Mt 5:48) that Jesus Christ calls us every day! The high standard of the Christian life consists in loving “as” God loves; with a love that is shown in the total, faithful and fruitful gift of self. … It is in this soil of self-offering and openness to the love of God, and as the fruit of that love, that all vocations are born and grow.”

And so we invite you to join us in continuing to pray for vocations, especially to the Congregation of Holy Cross, in this prayer adapted from the Congregation’s Directory of Devotional Prayer.

God our Father,
we thank you for having called us to be your son and daughters,
to work together as brothers and sisters for the mission of Christ.
Transform our minds and hearts,
and guide us along the pathways of Truth.

Lord Jesus,
let us experience the peace and joy
of your presence in our midst.
Make us faithful disciples,
educators in the faith,
servants who are sensitive to the poor and needy.

Holy Spirit of God,
enlighten and strengthen us
in living and proclaiming the good news of salvation,
so that the witness of our lives as disciples
may inspire young men and women today
to lay down their lives in service of you
especially as priests, brothers, and sisters in Holy Cross.

Hear this prayer,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.