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YOU are a CHILD of GOD
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
before you came to birth I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.’
Jeremiah 1:5
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It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives.
Pope John Paul II
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Dear Father,
Shine your light upon me so that I may see
my true vocation. Give me the grace to
hear your word and be an example to
others of your love for us.
I pray sincerely for all in Priesthood,
and for all who are listening to your call,
that they may answer you.
Thank you for sending your Son Jesus, Lord
of the Harvest; help me to follow His
example. May I freely, courageously and
lovingly respond.
Amen
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Lord Jesus,
I give you my hands
to do your work.
I give you my feet
to go your way.
I give you my eyes
to see as you do.
I give you my tongue
to speak your words.
I give you my mind
that you may think in me.
I give you my spirit
that you may pray in me.
Above all, I give you my heart
that you may love in me your Father
and all humanity.
I give you my whole self
that you may grow in me,
so that it is you, Lord Jesus,
who live and work and pray in me.
Amen.
(Grail Prayer)
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God has created me to do him some definite service;
He has committed some work to me
which he has not committed to another.
I have my mission – I may never know it in this life,
but I shall be told it in the next.
I have a part in this great work; I am a link in a chain,
a bond of connection between persons.
He has not created me for naught.
I shall do good, I shall do his work;
I shall be an angel of peace,
a preacher of the truth in my own place,
while not intending it,
if I do but keep his commandments
and serve him in my calling.
Therefore I will trust him.
Whatever, wherever I am,
I can never be thrown away.
I ask not to see,
I ask not to know,
I ask simply to be used.
Venerable John Henry Newman
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We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
This is what we are about. We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted knowing that they hold future promises. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. That enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and do the rest. We are prophets of a future not our own.
Archbishop Oscar Romero
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“Christian vocation is the renewal of the personal friendship with Jesus Christ, which gives full meaning to one’s existence and makes it receptive to the Kingdom of God. The Church lives off this friendship, nourished by the Word and by the Sacraments, holy truths especially entrusted to the ministry of bishops, priests and deacons consecrated by the Sacrament of Holy Orders.”
“For this reason the priest’s mission is irreplaceable; and although in some areas there is a lack of clergy, it must not be doubted that God continues to call boys, young men and adults to leave everything and dedicate themselves to preaching the Gospel and to pastoral ministry.”
“Another special way to follow Christ is the vocation to consecrated life, expressed through an existence of poverty, chastity and obedience, entirely dedicated to God in contemplation and prayer, while serving our brothers and sisters, especially the weakest and poorest.”
“Christian marriage is also and to all effects a vocation to sanctity, and the example of saintly parents is the primary condition favouring the growth of religious and priestly vocations.”
Pope Benedict XVI
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