OUR PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS

- Introduction. - The Holy Spirit is more powerful than secularism. - Initiatives for our prayer for vocations. - Special care to involve young people as well. - Themes to be included in our prayer. - The Salesian praying in the light of ‘Pastores dabo vobis.’ - Don Bosco’s prayer for vocations. - Intensifying our explicit prayer. - We entrust ourselves to Mary.

Rome, Feast of the Sacred Heart

26 June 1992

My dear confreres,

Grateful and fraternal greetings from all the members of the General Council now gathered in plenary session. In the past months they have made visits of animation to many provinces in different continents. Affectionately they have given their health and their gifts of animation and sharing to you their confreres. It is an admirable thought to consider their service of communion in the charisma of Don Bosco as an act of self-giving, made with joy and simplicity so that we may grow and bear common witness to the same pastoral charity in many different contexts.

In this plenary session of the Council you are in our thoughts and considerations, together with the state of your provinces and some particularly, urgent problems. We have also had a special meeting with all the Provincials of Europe concerning the challenges in new evangelization emanating from this dynamic continent with its many problems.

One of the most burning concerns throughout the Congregation continues to be that of vocations.

Quite recently I wrote a circular in this connection,¹ but I think it opportune to return again to the same topic, not merely for the sake of repeating exhortations, but to look more deeply at the most vital aspect of what we have to do.

It has been pointed out to me that in the previous circular the theme of prayer for vocations was taken for granted rather then developed at any length. We are well aware, as I said in the previous letter, that among the basic principles which constitute the practical guidelines for every vocational commitment, “the first and foremost is that every vocation is an initiative on the part of God and the gift of his love; hence all activity must be supported by prayer, and its spiritual nature be never forgotten”.²

And we have also reflected together on salesian prayer.³ The letter on “Charism and Prayer” could by itself be sufficient to shed light on how we pray for vocations.

But we also have to recognize that circulars of past months can easily become so much water under the bridge, and I invite you therefore to reflect more attentively on our “prayer for vocations”: let Provincials and Rectors help the confreres to be more aware of this.

I have finished writing this letter on the feast of the Sacred Heart, a feast which reminds us of how much Don Bosco wanted to do and did for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and how he has taught to foster in ourselves the same sentiments of the Good Shepherd. Our formation communities used to have the Sacred Heart as their special patron.