Prayer for vocations

Loving God, you speak to us and nourish us through our church. In the name of Jesus, we ask you to send your Spirit to us so that believers will respond to your call to service and leadership as priests, deacons, sisters, and brothers. May those who open their hearts and minds to your call be encouraged and strengthened through our enthusiasm in your service. Amen.

July 1. Blessed Junipero Serra.

Junipero Serra was a brilliant young man who lived comfortably in Spain during the 18th century. He left everything behind and traveled to the New World to work on the evangelization of Baja California. He walked from mission to mission to supervise the work. It is estimated that he may have  walked about 24,000 miles.

Your turn
How far are you willing to walk to take the Word of God?

July 4. St. Elizabeth of Portugal.

Elizabeth was just 12 years old when she was married to the King of Portugal. She was energetic and strong, but also immensely kind and pious. The king did not treat her well and because of this, their son would confront his father, which she always tried to prevent and make peace between the two. When her husband died Isabel dedicated her life completely to God and to caring for the poor. Her pain was always watching her family fighting among each other.

Your turn
How do you reconcile the members of your family who are battling and help make peace between them?

July 5. St. Anthony Zaccaria.

An Italian saint from the 16th century, Anthony came from a well-to-do family but learned about poverty from his mother so that he could be benevolent. He renounced his entire wealth to care for others. He wanted to study medicine, but God guided him into the priesthood. He died young, yet during his short ministry he left the memory of his passionate dedication to the poor and the reform of customs and religious conversion of those near him. He created centers for spirituality and a congregation for married couples.

Your turn
What are the teachings that you treasure the most from your mother or grandmother?

July 5. St. Michael of the Saints.

Michael was born in Spain during the 16th century and was a Most Holy Trinity monk. He was a great mystic but a frustrated hermit, who tried to escape the world but God was calling him to something else, although his father wanted to force him into marriage. He managed to convince his father to grant him permission to enter the Order of the Most Holy Trinity. He studied in Salamanca and became a superior in Zaragoza. He died when he was just 33 years old.

Your turn
How would you try to convince your family that you need to follow your own path?

  July 6. St. Maria Goretti.

An Italian girl, who lost her father at a young age, Maria helped her mother  with the household chores and caring for her younger siblings. A neighbor, who was somewhat older than Maria, attempted to seduce her, when she refused, he became angry and severely brutalized her. She died forgiving the young man, Alessandro, who later had a conversion in church. He attended her canonization.

Your turn
Do you consider your life is too simple for you to be a saint?

July 11. St. Benedict.

Benedict was born into a wealthy family, not far from Rome, in 480. His parents wanted him to become a lawyer, but Benedict dropped out of school rejecting any type of fame and power. He lived alone for some time until a group of monks asked him to become their abbot. This is how the Order of the Benedictines was born. He logically had problems, even with the monks, but he always maintained his peace and calmness.

Your turn
How do you distinguish the calling from God during the events in your life?

July 13. St. Teresa of the Andes.

She is the first Chilean saint and was barely 20 years old when she died in a Carmelite convent she had entered only a year earlier. Teresa was happy, joyful, athletic, and she admitted that a times she could be tough and temperamental. She learned to tame her difficult personality through a close friendship with Jesus.

Your turn
Do you believe your love of God and friendship with Him can help you to overcome your defects? Which defects would you like to present to God?

 July 14. St. Francis Solano.

He was a young man from the 16th century, who was joyful, kind and had a great spirit of sacrifice. As a Franciscan missionary he traveled throughout America and mostly through Argentina and Peru, where he developed a great missionary labor. His fame as a man of prayer led his canonization process to commence just a few days after his death.

Your turn
How do you wish people would remember you?

July 14. Camillus de Lellis.

Camillus had a tough and impetuous personality. He was in the military and just like his father enjoyed parties and gambling. He became ill from a diseased leg that led to much suffering, but he stilled continued his fast life. When he was ruined by gambling, he had no other choice but to beg for coins in the streets. Feeling compassion for him, a man directed Camillus to the Capuchin convent where he could find work. There he learned to live in a more orderly way and experienced a conversion. After taking the habit, the lesion in his leg worsen and it was then he decided to dedicate his life to helping the sick. He became a priest and founded a small order to help and serve the sick that were extremely poor. He died in 1614.

Your turn
What would you have to change in your life to live your conversion?

July 14. Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

She was the daughter of a Mohawk chieftain. As an adolescent she converted to Catholicism and had to face her tribe, which did not accept her new faith. She dedicated her life to caring for the sick and elderly. She died at the age of 24 and is remembered as the Lily of the Mohawks. She is the first beatified American Indian.

Your turn
Do you have to conquer some opposition to defend your faith?

 July 15. St. Bonaventure

Bonaventure was born in Italy during the 13th century. He is partly responsible for the organization of the Franciscan Order. He dedicated his life to studying and was a young professor at the University of Paris, where he coincided with St. Thomas Aquinas. He wrote extensively and left a legacy of sensibility and affection. He followed the Franciscan tradition of loving nature and discipleship of Christ out of love.

Your turn
How much time do you dedicate to learning? Do you think it is where God is calling you?

July 28. St. Melchor de Quirós.

A Spanish saint from the 19th century and a martyr from Vietnam. He was an extremely pious person. He became bishop and dedicated himself to the caring, formation and holiness of the faithful. Although he was captured, imprisoned, and submitted to terrible torments and torture, he remained steadfast in his faith.

Your turn
What do you perceive to be your mission and calling? What are you willing to risk for it?

July 28. St. Peter Poveda.

Peter Poveda was born in Spain and as a young seminarian he embarked on an intense social, educational and religious effort among the inhabitants of the Guadix caves in the South of Spain. Responding to an educational problem in Spain, he founded the Teresian Association, which consists of Catholic lay people dedicated to education and culture. He gave up his life for his faith in July 1936.

Your turn
What are the needs that you see in your surroundings that you must respond to?

July 31. St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Ignatius was born in the 15th century and was the son of a wealthy family. He spent his youth having fun with his friends and in the military. But while recuperating from a battle wound, he experienced a conversion to God. From that moment on he dedicated his life to God. He studied theology and philosophy in Paris and with a group of friends founded the Company of Jesus, which has spread around the world and today is known as the Jesuits.

Your turn
Have you ever felt the calling to change your life? What changes would this mean for you? Do you feel capable of doing this?