Vocations Week 2019: Pray and Witness

Prayer and witness through action is the staple of all Catholic life. Generation S is bringing the two together. Vocations Awareness Week 2019 (November 10 – 15) will get off to a prayerful start as families buckle down to the business of prayer next Sunday, November 10. We are inviting family prayer in a space set aside at home to intercede for vocations ministry in the Archdiocese.

Prayer and vocations ministries are everybody’s business. This week brings the two together as we listen to the Lord himself. Jesus said, “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his harvest.”

Generation S is providing an opportunity for obedience to the Lord as we encourage intercession during this week for vocations awareness.

Friday 15 is also another day of prayer. We are also ending Vocations Awareness Week 2019 with prayer. All Catholics are invited to fast and pray that men and women may see the Mission of the Church as something to which they can give their entire lives.

Generation S is therefore bracketing the week in prayer: prayer is the beginning and end of all we do. Prayer is the foundation of all ministry in the Church.

Monday 11 is the ‘Wear something green day’. This is the day of witness. This is a gesture of hope and green represents such. Christians are people of hope. We know that God’s mission will continue, and that men and women everywhere will continue to respond to God’s Call to be priests, religious and lay consecrated.

We also believe that God continues to call amidst the noise of life. God does not give up on us; God calls still, and we are witnessing to this by wearing green.  It’s also a gesture of support as we build the culture of vocations in our Archdiocese. Young people and all people need to feel encouraged as they grapple with soul-searching questions.

When Catholics wear green on Monday 11 they are saying they support those who are discerning God’s Call. They are saying that they wish to motivate and encourage fellow Catholics to ask God what they should do with their lives. We ought to reach a stage in our maturity as a Church whereby vocational discernment is a rule rather than exception.

Social support is important to this cultural shift. Wearing green is also a conversation opener. It becomes an opportunity for Catholics to say to friends and co-workers that the mission of the Church to bring the Good News is important to them and that they are supporting men and women who ‘dare to be different’ by dedicating their entire lives to this mission.

Friday 15 is the launch of ‘Call on Canvas’ at the Max Murphy Hall, Chaguanas. Artists 11 to 35 years old are invited to paint, draw, airbrush etc. on biblical call stories. They will depict through various artistic media their understanding of the Call today.