Dear St. Catherine of Siena Family,
This week we celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week, which focuses on promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and religious life through prayer and education. It’s also a time when we renew our prayers and support for those who are considering one of these particular vocations and for those who are currently in formation.
In our parish, one of the main ways we promote vocations is through our Elijah Cup program. The Elijah Cup is a blessed chalice that is given to a family or individual at the end of Mass. It’s meant to be displayed in the home throughout the week to serve as a visible reminder to pray for more vocations.
This program is based on the biblical account of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath from 1 Kings 17. There we read how Elijah met the widow and her son during a severe famine and performed a miracle for them, providing them with enough flour and oil to make bread for a whole year. (“The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry,” vs. 14).
This serves as a reminder to us: The Lord has promised that if we pray with the faith of the widow of Zarephath, our cup will never run dry! We will always have priests to bring us Jesus in the Eucharist.
Along with the chalice, there are holy cards and pamphlets included in the case that will help facilitate prayer for vocations. Among these, one very helpful item is the “31 Club” card. This card is produced by the Office of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Atlanta and includes the names of all of our seminarians. Each day has the names of two or three seminarians to be prayed for that day, so that within the span of a month, every seminarian is prayed for by name in a particular way.
I would ask you to please consider signing up to receive the Elijah Cup soon. There is no ongoing commitment, and the process is very simple. Please visit our webpage at www.stcatherinercc.org/elijah-cup to sign up.
Finally, you can also stop by the vocations table we have in the narthex near the St. Joseph Chapel to see the large poster displayed with the names and pictures of our current seminarians and to pray for each of them. There are also several other helpful resources available at the table to learn more about vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and religious life, and to pray for an increase in these vocations. I would ask you to join me in praying, in particular, that the Lord would call young men and women from our own parish to follow him in a generous and sacrificial way in one of these vocations.
