Year of prayer for vocations planned
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
PISCATAWAY — Two monstrances to be blessed by Pope Benedict XVI July 4 will be the spiritual centerpieces of a Year of Prayer for Vocations to be proclaimed by Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski.
The monstrances will be used for eucharistic adoration at parishes across the diocese beginning in Advent, the start of the church calendar, said Father Randall J. Vashon, diocesan director of vocations.
A poster containing places, dates and times for the holy hours should be completed by the fall, Father Vashon said. The schedule will also be published on the diocesan Web site, www.diometuchen.org, and in The Catholic Spirit.
“We will ask every parish to hold one holy hour for vocations within the year,” Father Vashon said, noting that some of the smaller parishes may combine their efforts. He hopes that there will be at least 100 holy hours dedicated to praying for vocations.
Bishop Bootkoski credited Father Vashon for originating the concept for the Year of Prayer for Vocations, which is meant to remind Catholics “that we are all responsible for fostering vocations to the priesthood and religious life.”
“Today, more than ever before, we all have an obligation to invite young men and women to consider a religious vocation as a viable lifestyle,” Bishop Bootkoski said.
“The key is inviting someone to consider a vocation; someone who is being drawn to a deep spiritual life and might be grappling with that call from God. A vocation is not just another job, but a true call from God to minister to his people.”
“Parishes regularly hold holy hours for vocations and for other reasons,” Father Vashon said. “By publishing the schedules, people may be more apt to go.
“If a parish wants to have more than one holy hour, they are welcome,” he added. “If there are religious orders in our dioceses or houses of prayer that wish to use our monstrances for their holy hour certainly we will try to accommodate them.
“Eucharistic adoration is a concerted effort simply to provide a focus on vocations in a very unique and beautiful way. The focus is on vocations, but people can certainly come and pray for anything.”
Father Vashon, Father Robert G. Lynam, pastor, St. Augustine of Canterbury Parish, Kendall Park; Father Edward R. Flannigan, pastor, Nativity of Our Lord Parish, Monroe Township; and Father Patrick J. Kuffner, pastor, Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish, Middlesex, will be present when Pope Benedict blesses the monstrances during his weekly audience.
The priests are in Italy as part of a pilgrimage for vocations from June 25 to July 5. The meeting with Pope Benedict will be the first for all four priests, Father Vashon said.
Engraved under the base of each monstrance are the papal coat of arms and the words, “Blessed by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, in Rome at St. Peter’s Basilica, July 4, 2007. Through the gift of the Eucharist, may Jesus Christ our high priest grant the Church of Metuchen abundant vocations to the priesthood.”
The gold-plated monstrances were purchased with assistance from the Knights of Columbus, Father Vashon said.
Among the sites the priests will visit is the Duomo at Orvieto, where a host is exposed for perpetual adoration. Blood seeped from that host while a priest was consecrating it during Mass in Bolsena, Italy, in 1263, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.
The priest’s schedule also includes celebrating Mass in Clementia Chapel, Tomb of St. Peter, in the Vatican July 2.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law