Pope Benedict Ferverinos from US Visit - Part XII

From remarks made to US Bishops concerning vocations!

"In the Gospel, Jesus tells us to pray that the Lord of the harvest will send workers. He even admits that the workers are few in comparison with the abundance of the harvest (cf. Mt 9:37-38). Strange to say, I often think that prayer – the unum necessarium – is the one aspect of vocations work which we tend to forget or to undervalue! Nor am I speaking only of prayer for vocations. Prayer itself, born in Catholic families, nurtured by programs of Christian formation, strengthened by the grace of the sacraments, is the first means by which we come to know the Lord’s will for our lives. To the extent that we teach young people to pray, and to pray well, we will be cooperating with God’s call. Programs, plans and projects have their place; but the discernment of a vocation is above all the fruit of an intimate dialogue between the Lord and his disciples. Young people, if they know how to pray, can be trusted to know what to do with God’s call."

So much for inventing new vocations programs. The Pope instructs that we have failed to raise vocations to the priesthood and religious life insofar as we have failed to teach the young people of the Church how to pray. This is first the responsibility of families, to spend as much time learning how to develop this 'intimate dialogue' with the Lord as they do on other activities and entertainment. Vocation directors as well, would do better to stop trying to find new ways to convince young people that the priesthood or religious life is the best life for them. Instead, we should teach them how to pray, and then trust the response that emerges as the fruit of that prayer!