Our Vocation Ministry - February 2006

Dear Friends,

February 5 has been designated as World Day for Consecrated Life.

What is the World Day for Consecrated Life?
It is an annual celebration to highlight persons who have made a special consecration in the Catholic Church.

How did the celebration begin?
The Church in Rome has celebrated consecrated life on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, for many years. The Holy Father celebrates Mass in the Basilica of St. Peter on this feast day. Consecrated persons carry candles in the entrance procession, serve as lectors, and bring the bread and wine in the offertory procession. In 1997, Pope John Paul II called for consecrated life to be promoted throughout the universal Church and declared February 2 to be observed as World Day for Consecrated Life.

When is it celebrated in the United States?
The celebration is on February 2, if February 2 is a Saturday or Sunday, or on the weekend following February 2 in order to allow more people to celebrate it in their parishes. This year World Day for Consecrated Life is celebrated on Sunday, February 5th.

What are the purposes of the World Day for Consecrated Life?
In his message for the first World Day for Consecrated Life, the pope said the day offers the opportunity to thank God for the gift of consecrated life, to promote knowledge of the life, to invite consecrated people to celebrate what the Lord has accomplished in them, and to acquire more awareness of their mission in the Church and in the world.

It is comforting to know that Catholics throughout the world are praying for vocations to the consecrated life. People are praying for you as you seek to listen to what God may be asking of you...to live your life and to use your gifts and talents for others.

One way of helping to discern what God may be asking of us is by participating in Come and See Retreats and Days of Discernment. We have one of each in the New Jersey and metropolitan New York City area in the month of February. Come join us! (Click on retreats for additional places and dates.)

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Prayer to Know One's Vocation
Lord, my God and my loving Father,
you have made me to know you,
to love you, to serve you,
and thereby to find and to fulfill myself.
I know that you are in all things,
and that every path can lead me to you.
But of them all, there is one especially
by which you want me to come to you.
Since I will do what you want of me,
I pray you, send your Holy Spirit to me:
into my mind,
to show me what you want of me; into my heart,
to give me the determination to do it,
and to do it with all my love, with all my mind,
and with all my strength right to the end.

Thank You For Visiting Our Website
We update our webpage frequently, so please visit us again! We welcome your ideas, suggestions, and questions. As always, feel free to contact me at (813) 870-6314, or e-mail fsavoc@aol.com.

God bless you,


To read previous monthly updates, click here.