A Short Passage From Pope John Paul II Message on the World Day of Prayer for Vocations (2001)

Theme: "Life as a vocation".

Every life is a vocation, and every believer is invited to co-operate in the building up of the Church. However, we turn our attention, in a special way, to the need and to the urgent requirement for ordained ministers, and for persons who are ready to follow Christ on the arduous path of consecrated life in the profession of the evangelical counsels.

We need ordained ministers who are "in different times and places the permanent guarantee of the sacramental presence of Christ, the Redeemer" (Christifideles laici, 55) and who, in their preaching of the Word and celebration of the Eucharist and the other Sacraments, guide Christian communities on the paths of eternal life.


We need men and women who, by their witness, "remind the baptized of the fundamental values of the Gospel", and who foster "in the People of God an awareness of the need to respond with holiness of life to the love of God poured into their hearts by the Holy Spirit, by reflecting in their conduct the sacramental consecration which is brought about by God's power in Baptism, Confirmation or Holy Orders" (Vita consecrata, 33).

To Read the Whole Message:  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/vocations/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_20001125_xxxviii-voc-2001_en.html