FOR PASTORS & PREACHERS: Sample homilies that encourage vocation discernment
Dear Pastors and Parish Preachers:
During the Year of Consecrated Life and beyond, we encourage you to plan homilies around discerning God’s call and the gift of a religious vocation. To assist you in this important task, VISION Vocation Network has gathered some excellent resources, including sample homilies, daily reflections, and hundreds of articles on prayer, discernment, and religious life for use as you prepare your sermons and counsel those in your parish who may seek your advice.
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Key themes in any homily about following Jesus and considering vowed life are:
Jesus calls you to a life of joy and service. Everyone's journey to Christ is different. To discern your best path: listen, pray, read, and seek wise and loving counsel.
Key times for preaching on vocations each year include:
- National Vocation Awareness Week: 1st Sunday in November
- World Day for Consecrated Life Feb 8, 2015: Sunday following the Feast of the Presentation
- World Day of Prayer for Vocations April 26, 2015: Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday
Additional Sundays with vocation themes:
- The calling of the first disciples (Lectionary 65; Jan. 18, 2015)
- The Sundays of Easter (April-May 2015)
- Pentecost (Lectionary 62 or 63; May 24, 2015)
- The Mission of the Twelve (Lectionary 104; July 12, 2015)
- The Conditions of Discipleship (Lectionary 131; Sept. 13, 2015)
- World Mission Sunday (Lectionary 146; Oct. 18, 2015)
Quick tips:
A great place to start any homily on vocation discernment is to tell your own vocation story.
Encourage religious in your parish territory to be more visible this year, whether retired, on staff, at the local school, or other institutions of service. Allow them to give reflections at Mass or to offer evenings of reflection to the parish seasonally.
SAMPLE HOMILY FOR WORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE
For what purpose have you come? By Tom McGrath
SAMPLE HOMILY FOR WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS
SAMPLE HOMILY FOR WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS
Just ask: ways to nurture vocations By Sister Margie Lavonis, C.S.C.
SAMPLE HOMILY ON DISCIPLESHIP
Check back to this page for additional sample homilies to be posted throughout the Year of Consecrated Life.
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