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DIOCESE PROMOTES VOCATION AWARENESS WEEK JAN. 9-14
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio’s “Prayer for Vocations” will be recited in the parishes of the Diocese of Brooklyn during National Vocation Awareness Week Jan. 9-14.
The parishes have ordered more than 100,000 copies of the prayer for distribution among parishioners, said Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Regina Wilson, associate director of the diocesan Vocation Office.
“Our hope is that the entire Diocese will be united in prayer for an increase of vocations to ordained ministry and consecrated life,” she said. Residents of nursing homes, which she calls “powerhouses of prayer,” have also received copies of the prayer card.
The week will open Jan. 9 with Bishop DiMarzio leading parishioners in reciting the prayer at Masses in two Queens parishes: St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Albans, at 8 a.m. and Christ the King, Springfield Gardens, at 11 a.m.
As part of the promotion for Vocation Awareness Week, the Vocation Office and the Pastoral Communications Office will present a live call-in television program, called “Here I Am, Lord, Send Me,” which will be beamed to seventh- and eighth-grade students in parochial elementary schools Monday, Jan. 10, at 10:30 a.m.
Father Kevin J. Sweeney, director of the Vocation Office, Marist Brother Steve Milan, Marist Brothers’ vocation director, and Sister of St. Joseph Susan Wilcox, campus minister at St. Joseph’s College, will respond to students’ questions. Rose Terranova will facilitate the discussion.
The Prayer Channel (Channel 79 on Time Warner Cable and Channel 30 on Cablevision) will offer a “vocation special” Tuesday evening, Jan. 11, at 7:30. Father Sweeney and parents of priests and Religious will discuss how parents can help young people discern their vocation in life and answer questions called in by viewers. Msgr. Michael J. Dempsey will host the program.
The Vocation Office has also distributed 400 informational packets prepared by the National Coalition for Church Vocations to pastors, principals, directors of religious education in parishes, campus ministers and retreat directors.
Sister Regina said the packet contains homily suggestions, blurbs for parish bulletins, a generic prayer service and lesson plans for all grade levels.
Since September, 3,500 copies of the Diocese’s “Strategic Action Plan for the Promotion of Vocations to Ordained Ministry and Consecrated Life” have been distributed throughout the Diocese. The plan offers “activity guidelines” geared toward creating a “culture of vocation” in the Diocese.
Meanwhile, Father Sweeney will continue his series of visits to parishes, where he speaks on vocations at weekend Masses. The parishes scheduled for January are St. Teresa’s, Woodside, Jan. 8-9; Holy Trinity, Whitestone, Jan. 15-16, and St. Francis de Sales, Belle Harbor, Jan. 29-30.
Bishop DiMarzio’s prayer for vocations reads as follows:
“Lord of the Harvest, we petition you as you have instructed us to ask for more laborers to serve in the vineyard of your Church. You have told us that the harvest is rich and laborers are few and we experience this great need in the face of the challenge of the New Evangelization.
“We ask the Holy Spirit to inspire young men and women to seriously consider vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Help all of us to be effective instruments to encourage and support those whom you are calling to serve and lead the Church of Brooklyn and Queens in the future.
“Lord, you told the Apostles to put out into the deep. We ask for the grace and courage to respond to your call, as we pray and work for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
“We ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest. Amen.”
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