This year, Vocations Sunday falls on Sunday 11 May.
This is the fourth Sunday after Easter and has as its theme Jesus the Good Shepherd. It is time to reflect on what God is calling each and every one of us to do in terms of the living out of our faith, not least in acts of compassion and justice.
It allows us to consider what lifestyle God might be calling as to live, which might include ordination or the religious and monastic life, or the life of a licensed lay minister, or, as is the case for most of us, simply the day-to-day living out of our Christian faith and the values it calls us to amidst the ordinary tasks of life.
So on Vocations Sunday, we pray for an increase in vocations to specific ministries such as ordination, religious life, and licensed lay ministry, as well as encouraging each other in our daily vocation.
God our Father, Lord of all the world,
through your Son, you have called us into the fellowship
of your universal Church:
hear our prayer for your faithful people
that in their vocation and ministry
each may be an instrument of your love,
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
