FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2012

Contact: Patricia M. Chivers
Communications Director
(678) 480-6865
pchivers@archatl.com

The Archdiocese of Atlanta will celebrate Vocations Awareness Week, April 29, 2012, to May 5th 2012.

Vocations Awareness Week, which begins on April 29th and coincides with Good Shepherd Sunday and World Day of Prayer for Vocations, is a time for: increased prayer for vocations specifically to the priesthood and religious life, reflection on our own vocations, and education for young people about vocations in the Church.

“A Christian vocation must be rooted first and foremost in a relationship with the Lord Jesus,” says Fr. Tim Hepburn, the Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. “It is Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who calls us to that abundant life that comes from living one’s God-given vocation.”

In his address for the 49th annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Benedict XVI charged those who educate youth saying, “I fervently exhort you to pay close attention to those members of parish communities, associations and ecclesial movements who sense a call to the priesthood or to a special consecration. It is important for the Church to create the conditions that will permit many young people to say “yes” in generous response to God’s loving call”.

“Responding to the Lord’s call has brought joy and indescribable peace to my life,” says Mr. Bryan Kuhr, a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Atlanta and Pre-Theology student at St. Mary of the Lake seminary in Mundelein, IL. “Abandoning yourself to the Lord and sacrificing your will to the Lord is truly liberating, which is contrary to societal beliefs or our own intuition” continues Kuhr.

Mr. Gaurav Shroff, a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Atlanta who is preparing to be ordained a deacon this May says, “At one time I feared that following Jesus Christ and giving my whole life to Him would somehow constrain my freedom. I feared I would be unable to do what I thought I needed to do in order to be happy. On the contrary, I have found that I am freer to be myself, my true self. I am more human and happier.”

During Vocations Awareness Week, parishes and schools are encouraged to offer Masses, holy hours and other times of prayer for an increase in vocations as well as highlight vocations during their classes.

This year’s celebration will conclude with a Mass for Vocational Discernment on May 5th at 10:00am in the St. Dominic Chapel located at the Chancery-2401 Lake Park Dr. Smyrna, GA 30080.

For more information on Vocations Awareness Week please visit the Archdiocese of Atlanta Office of Vocations at: calledbychrist.com

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