Persisting in Prayer

"Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you." --St. Augustine

It’s important to remember that while active ministry bears much fruit, we should never forget the efficacy of prayer.

St. Monica’s son Augustine was hopelessly separated from God, but she never stopped praying for his conversion, and after 17 years, she saw it. Her prayers led to the conversion of one of the great Doctors of the Church.

On a much larger scale, in 1881, a group of Catholic mothers in the city of Lu, Italy, was lamenting the small town’s lack of priests and religious. Desperately wanting to make a difference, the women began meeting weekly in the parish church to pray to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

Over the next sixty years a miracle happened: 323 men and women from that small town became priests or religious. In all, one-third of the population was ordained or professed religious vows. And it all began with the intercession of a few devoted souls.

This amazing testament to the power of prayer should inspire all Catholics to pray that more young people hear and respond to God’s call to the priesthood or religious life.

Will your prayers for vocations lead to one-third of your parish finding a call to the priesthood or religious life? Probably not. But without prayer, it’s awfully difficult for anybody to hear God’s call.

Finally, whenever possible, pray for vocations together. In the words of St. John Vianney, patron saint of parish priests, "Private prayer is like straw scattered here and there: If you set it on fire it makes a lot of little flames. But gather these straws into a bundle and light them, and you get a mighty fire, rising like a column into the sky; public prayer is like that."

Thank you for helping promote vocations in the Diocese of Ogdensburg! Your work and prayers are greatly appreciated.
________

If you know a young man who is interested in the priesthood, please encourage him to contact us. Likewise, if you are aware of a young woman or man who is discerning religious life, please send them our way. We'll help connect them with respective religious communities. And of course, let us keep praying for each other and for all holy vocations in the Church.

The Vocation Team
Cathy Russell
Vocations Coordinator
crussell@rcdony.org
Fr. Douglas Lucia
Vocation Director
dlucia@rcdony.org
Fr. Thomas Higman
Associate Vocation Director
thigman@rcdony.org
The Vocations Office and this issue of "Come Follow Me" are supported by
The Bishop's Fund Appeal
View this email in your browser
You are receiving this email because of your relationship with Diocese of Ogdensburg Vocations Team. Please reconfirm your interest in receiving emails from us. If you do not wish to receive any more emails, you can unsubscribe here.
This message was sent to web@rcdony.org by crussell@rcdony.org
622 Washington Street, Ogdensburg, NY, 13669


Unsubscribe from all mailings Unsubscribe | Manage Subscription | |