During this special year of Jubilee, we celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week as people who know the grace of an open door. God the Father, thorough the incarnation, death, and resurrection of his Son, opened to us the doors of abundant life.

During National Vocation Awareness Week we respond by celebrating the ways in which we might open wide the doors to Christ by following our unique call to serve God and God's people as priests or deacons, sisters or brothers, or as single or married laity.

Young people often say that one of the biggest reasons they don't consider priesthood or religious life when they think about the future is that no one ever invited them to do so. Do you know young people who have a healthy sense of self, who spend time volunteering to help others, attend Mass regularly, and have leadership potential? Pray for them, and invite them to consider a life of service in the church.

Parishes throughout the Archdiocese will be praying for vocations and holding special events during this week to help deepen awareness about God's call to service and create an atmosphere in which young people can listen for and attend to that call.