5. LOCAL VOCATIONS TO PRIESTHOOD AND RELIGIOUS LIFE
I would like you to be free from worry. An unmarried man
concerns himself with the Lord’s work, because he is trying to please the Lord. But a
married man concerns himself with worldly matters because he wants to please his
wife; and so he is pulled in two directions. An unmarried woman or a virgin concerns
herself with the Lord’s work, because she wants to be dedicated both in body and
spirit; but a married woman concerns herself with worldly matters because she
wants to please her husband. I am saying this because I want to help you. I am
not trying to put restrictions on you. Instead I want you to do what is right
and proper, and to give yourselves completely to the Lord’s service without any reservations.
(1 Corinthians 7, 32 – 35).
Local vocations to the priesthood and religious life should
be promoted in parish prayer groups and families. Parish vocation-promotion
teams should be established. Special workshops and retreats for young people
searching for their vocation in life should take place regularly in the parish.
Also - at diocesan level - priests and religious sisters should cooperate and get
involved and support vocation promotion prayer drives and workshops. Literature
promoting vocations should be made available to young people. On-going
communication with young people interested in religious life and priesthood
should be maintained with follow – up meetings. Parents should be helped to
encourage their children to consider God’s call to the priesthood and religious
life.
Wherever an integral pastoral ministry – with families,
young people or in the mission field – develops and grows together with pastoral
ministry for vocations,here is a flowering of priestly vocations and religious
life.Thus,the vocational dimension is not simply the adding on of programmes and suggestions,but becomes the natural expression of the whole community…The family
remains the primary community for the transmission of the Christian faith.It can
be seen everywhere that many vocations to the priesthood and religious life are
born in families where
the example of a Christian life in keeping with its calling
and practice of the evangelical counsels give rise to the desire for complete self-giving.Care for
vocations presupposes,in reality,a strong family pastoral ministry…The witness of priests united to Christ ,happy in their ministry and united in brotherhood among themselves,has a strong vocational appeal for young men. ( Pastoral Guidelines For Fostering Vocations to
Download Vision2020 PDF file at:http://dioceseoftzaneen.mariannhillmedia.org/vision2020-for-the-diocese-of-tzaneen/
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