Vocations Chalice Box
Helping Us to Pray More Intentionally for Vocations in the Church
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ight now, there is a great need in our Catholic Church for an increase in all vocations, but in particular, there is a need for vocations to the priesthood. It is unfortunately not uncommon for many priests to be the only priest at a parish. They are tasked with running the parish and caring for the needs of the whole parish community on their own. Prayers for vocations should be something that we all strive to include in our daily prayer life, and here at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, we offer a unique way to get started. The Vocations Chalice Box holds a few different items — various prayer cards relating to vocations; DVDs that talk about the different vocations such as religious life, convent life, monastic life, seminarians, and the priesthood; and a chalice that has previously held the Sacred Blood of Christ. Parishioner Shawn Stane was blessed to have the Vocations Chalice Box for almost a year when the parish ministries were shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. His family took it home, intending to keep it for a week, and ended up having the opportunity to pray with it daily
for eight or nine months. “Having it in your home, and praying over it, allows the idea of vocations to grow in our children and our homes,” Shawn says. “They can begin to understand the different vocations and the importance of listening to God’s call in our lives.” This is a ministry that is open to anyone at the parish who would like the opportunity to pray more intentionally for vocations. The box is picked up on Sundays and then dropped back off at the church on Saturday. Shawn and a few other parishioners keep a running list of who would like the box and they facilitate who will pick it up each week. “I recommend that people try it, even if they don’t quite understand what it is,” Shawn says. “It helps focus us on the needs of the parish and everyone involved, not just our needs. Without our priest, we don’t have a parish. Or more importantly, without our priest we don’t have the Eucharist. To use our personal prayer time to pray for the vocations of others is a great act of stewardship.” This ministry does not involve a large time continued on back cover
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