Praying for and Talking about Vocations

St. Mark Parish, Boynton Beach, Florida

St. Mark Parish in Boynton Beach, Florida is run by the Conventual Franciscan Friars. Recently it has started to involve the entire congregation in prayers for vocations. The parish’s Vocation Chalice program – which is run by Jeanine Taylor – asks families in the parish to accept for one week at a time a blessed chalice over which its members can pray daily for greater vocation numbers.

A number of parishioners from St. Mark's

After communion at Mass, the family who will be praying over the chalice in the coming week is called up to the altar. The presiding priest blesses the family and then the chalice is theirs for the week. It is important that the family places the chalice in a prominent place at home because of its intrinsic spiritual value.

Dinners are a great opportunity to bring up vocations

Visitors to the home of the family that has the chalice for the week will undoubtedly inquire about it; which will only spread the idea of vocations through the greater Boynton Beach community. Most of us are generally not used to talking about vocations. This is something that should change. It can only take a few words for a person to open up to the idea of religious life and thus also to God.

St. Mark Parish's community faith-life