Pray the Lord of the Harvest...

The Command of Jesus
Pray the Lord of the harvest, that he may send workers” for his church (cf. Mt. 9:38).
Looking anxiously at the immense expanse of the verdant spiritual fields which await the priestly hands all over the world, the sorrowful invocation to the Lord gushes out from the heart, according to the invitations of Christ.

Urgent need
Yes, today as before, “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (Mt. 9:37):  

• Few, in view of the increasing needs of pastoral care;
• Few, as regards the exigencies of the modern world, its shuddering restlessness, its longing for clarity and light, that require teachers and fathers who are understanding, open, abreast with the times.
• Few, again, in the face of those who, though distant, indifferent, or hostile, also want in the priest a living irreproachable model of the doctrine which he professes.
• And above all, these priestly hands are scarce in the mission fields, wherever there people, brothers and sisters to be catechized, helped, or consoled

Responsibility of the Faithful
    This Sunday, which in the Roman Liturgy takes the name of the Good Shepherd from the Gospel, therefore sees the generous crowds of Catholics from all over the world gathered in one unique throb of prayer to ask from the Lord for workers needed in the harvest. And because this world day of Prayer for priestly and religious vocations should have that resonance, which it deserves, we have desired to address our stimulating word to all our beloved children, so that no one may fail such a serious and responsible duty.
    The problem of sufficient number of priests closely involves all the faithful: not only because this problem is the precise and inexorable indication of the vitality of faith and love in each parochial and diocesan community, and evidence of the moral health of the Christian Family.

The flowering of vocations – Sign of life according to the Gospel
    Where the numerous vocations so the ecclesiastical and religious state blossom, there the Gospel is lived generously: where there is a sign that there are fervent and good parents, who do not only fear, but also feel happy and honored in giving their own sons to the church; where there are zealous and faithful priest, through whom the continuity of their own priesthood is the first most important program of pastoral care; where above all there are generous teenagers, pure and courageous, who, nourished by the Eucharistic life and sensitive to the voice of Christ, know how to nurture in their young heart the desire to serve the Church one day, and dedicated to the souls as long as they live, in order to reproduce the very features of the good shepherd , and fallow faithfully his footsteps.

Exhortation to Prayer
    Let our prayer therefore rise to heaven: from the families, the parishes, the religious communities, the hospital wards, the multitude of the innocent babies, so that vocations may grow, and be the desires of Christ’s heart.
    Thus we shall pray:
    O Jesus, divine Shepherd of souls, who has called the Apostles to make them fishers of men, draw still unto yourself ardent and generous souls of the youth, to make them your followers and ministers. Make them share thirst for universal Redemption, for which you renew your sacrifice on the altars. You, O Lord, “always always alive to intercede for us” (Heb. 7:25), disclose to them the horizons of the entire world, when the silent supplication of many brothers asks for the light of truth and warmth of love; so that, responding to your call, they may here bellow your mission, edify your mystical body, Which is the Church, and be “salt of the earth”, and “Light of the world”(Mt. 5:13).
     Spread, O Lord, your loving call even to many souls of pure and generous women, and instill in them the anxiousness for evangelical perfection, and the dedication to the service of the church and brethren in need of help and charity. Amen.

    As pledge of the special fondness of the Lord on those who, uniting themselves to our prayer, lift up today their supplications, we wholeheartedly import to you, beloved sons and daughters. Our propitious Apostolic Blessing, which we extend in a special way to all the priest and the consecrated souls, and to those who, in the seminaries and religious houses, are preparing themselves in piety, in study, in sacrifice to grow up to the Altar, to be co-workers some day in the priestly order.

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On the occasion of the First World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Paul VI addresses a radio message to the catholic world at exactly 8 P.M. of the vigil, Saturday, 11 April 1964.

It is one of the shortest messages. The vocabulary for vocation is simple; besides the biblical terms, like “Harvest” and “works”, expressions referring almost exclusively to priests and priestly vocations are used.