Every year since 1976, the Catholic Church in the United States has celebrated National Vocation Awareness Week (NVAW) as a special time when we pray for the renewal and strengthening of all vocations within the Church.
This includes the vocations of married and single people; men serving as priests, deacons, and Brothers; and women serving as religious Sisters.
We celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week this year January 9 through 15. Appropriately, the week begins with the feast of the Baptism of Jesus.
During this week we are encouraged to deepen our friendship with God as we reflect upon our own vocation. We are also reminded to foster and pray for vocations to all states of life. Because of the present need, the Church especially encourages us to pray for and support vocations to priesthood and religious life.
During January, most dioceses in the United States celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week.
This is a good time to think about vocations and who has one. Who do you think has a vocation? If you answered that everyone has a vocation, you get an A.
So often we hear people limiting the term “vocation” to the priesthood and religious life. I hear many people, especially parents with children in Catholic schools, complain that we just don’t have enough vocations, but in truth we each received a vocation when we were baptized.
Several years ago, the United States Catholic Bishops changed the observance of National Vocation Awareness Week from October to the week beginning with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This usually occurs during the second week in January.
I remember wondering why the bishops made this change. Having this week soon after Christmas and close to Catholic Schools Week didn’t seem to make sense to me. (It is also a challenge to prepare special articles and coverage of vocations for the Catholic Herald right after the holidays, but we’ve learned to adjust!)
