2026.04-26 4th Sunday of Easter

Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, which is also called “Good Shepherd Sunday,” we celebrate the 63rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The purpose of World Day of Prayer for Vocations is to fulfill the Lord’s instruction to ‘pray to the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into His harvest.’  

In his message for this occasion, our Holy Father, Pope Leo, writes, “I invite everyone –– in families, parishes and religious communities, as well as bishops, priests, deacons, catechists, educators and all the faithful –– to commit themselves more fully to creating conditions that allow the gift of vocation to be embraced, nourished, protected and accompanied, so that it may bear abundant fruit. Only when our surroundings are illumined by living faith, sustained by constant prayer and enriched by fraternal accompaniment can God’s call blossom and mature, becoming a path of happiness and salvation for individuals and for the world.” 

  All the baptized are called to welcome the God-given vocation to serve God in the world, whether it be through the consecrated life, the priesthood, marriage, or even as a single person. Reflecting on the theme for the day, Pope Leo writes, “Every vocation is an immeasurable gift for the Church and for those who receive it with joy. To know the Lord means above all learning to entrust oneself to him and to his providence, which is abundant in every vocation.”

Let us give thanks to God today for our vocations, and let us pray in a special way on this World Day of Prayer for Vocations for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Let us also pray for the gift of peace for our world.

Fr. Vijai, CSC ~ Pastor