God has prepared the harvest, Pope says in message for World Day of Prayer for Vocations
January 16, 2014
In his annual message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Francis reminds the faithful that God plants the seeds of vocations, and exhorts all Catholics to “listen to and follow Jesus, and to allow yourselves to be transformed interiorly by his words.”
The 51st World Day of Prayer for Vocations will be observed on May 11. The Pope’s message for the occasion was released by the Vatican on January 16. In that message, Pope Francis reminds readers of the words of Jesus: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” [Mt 9:35-38] If “the harvest is plentiful,” the Pope asked, it is because God has already prepared the field. God has done important work, the Pope stressed; the faithful need only cooperate in that work.
The challenge, the Holy Father continued, is to align oneself with God’s will. Accepting a vocation, he said, “always requires an exodus from oneself in order to center one’s life on Christ and on his Gospel.” He added that this is true of every Christian vocation, including marriage as well as religious consecration.
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