Holy Hour for Vocations: Fanning the Flames in the Hearts ofThose Discerning their Call

Amber Vanderpol felt drawn to the ministry of praying for vocations. Unsure how to pursue this at first, she came across the idea of having a Holy Hour for vocations. When she brought the idea to Fr. Estrella, it turned out that he had been thinking the same thing. Amber volunteered her family to commit to a monthly Holy Hour.

“Our Lord asks us to pray to send more laborers for the harvest,” Amber says. “We are in a time of such incredible need for priests and religious, but also for Holy Matrimony. The number of people marrying in the Church is going down. I think we as a parish need to increase our prayer for all vocations.”

Before they began their Holy Hour prayers, Amber and her family invited the diocesan vocations director over for dinner. He had helped establish Holy Hours at other parishes and offered suggestions for a format to follow and booklets to assist parishioners in participating. The booklets available during the Holy Hour walk through different priests in our lives for whom we can pray, such as the priest who baptized us, gave us our First Communion, and the priest who will preside at our funeral. It reminds us to pray for those in our parish who might quietly be discerning the priesthood or religious life.

The first Holy Hour for Vocations was held in September 2021. Amber's three sons are altar servers, and they assist the priest in the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction. The hour includes Scripture and a brief reflection, petition prayers, and quiet time for personal prayer.

Amber sees the Holy Hour as more than just an opportunity to pray for vocations.

“I think it’s a witness to the youth of our parish,” she says. “I would love to see more families bring their children before our Lord to pray for vocations. We tend to ask children what they want to be when they grow up, but we don’t always talk about vocation and what God is calling us to do. I’d love to see it become more of a family ministry.”

Amber realizes some families might hesitate to bring small children to an hour of quiet prayer, but she encourages them to come.

“It’s okay if your kids make noise at a Holy Hour,” she says. “I bring my 4-year-old, and she’s not perfectly quiet the entire time. It’s so important to bring children there and teach them to be okay with the quiet, and they do learn. It’s not always perfect, but they deserve to be there, and our Lord wants them there.”

Our prayer, our simple conversations, and witness to our children and the young people of the parish can fan the flame that the Lord has placed in the hearts of those discerning their call in life.

All are welcome to join in prayer on the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m.