My Dear People,

The readings today deal with vocation and callings to do the work for the Lord. In the first reading, we learn of how Samuel was called by the Lord while he was sleeping in the temple. What is important is to understand what took place before this day. This is also written in the book of Samuel. His mother Hanna, who prayed to the Lord, for she was childless:

“And she made a vow, saying: O Lord of hosts if thou wilt look down on the affliction of thy servant, and wilt be mindful of me, and not forget thy handmaid, and wilt give to thy servant a man child: I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.” Chapter 11 of 1 Samuel

Eli thought that she was drunk, but she told him that she was pouring her heart to the Lord. Sure enough, she had a child and she dedicated him to the Lord at a young age. His name, of course, was Samuel. He was brought to the temple at a young age. So now we come to the reading of today when Samuel is called by the Lord. 

What made a difference here? Was it Eli? Or was it Hanna, his mother? Or was it both?.   

The Lord calls people to do his work. However, people do not come out of a vacuum. They come from families. They come from communities of strong faith and consistent prayer life. 

My vocation came from my pastor, Don Orazio Leone, in the small Italian town in the center of Italy called Rocca Pia. When I was in the fifth grade, he invited me to go to the seminary. I responded and the next year I was in the minor seminary. When I was in the seminary we had about 7 seminarians at the same time from that town. At this time, two of us became priests, the other was Don Schiappa Eustachio. This shows you that vocations come from a community that has strong faith, who pray. At that time, there were many services connected with the church that we participated in: Novena of Immaculate conception and Christmas, Feasts of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, and St. Joseph, The feast of Corpus Christi, and so on. Of course, there was a rosary prayed in the church daily in the afternoon. These provided a milieu through which faith was fostered and prayer life was strong, and the possibility of vocation was stronger. 

While I was at St. Martha in Sarasota, Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament was set up during office hours from nine to five in the afternoon. Many people came and still go there and pray and adore the Lord. From that adoration, there were some vocations that came from St. Martha’s. One vocation is Father Bernardine. He is with Missionaries of the Renewal, and he is in Limerick, Ireland. There have been other vocations that have come out of St. Martha. For example, Fr .Patrick Wilson, who was ordained a priest in the Pallottine Order. There is a priest named Fr. Lawton Lang, who was from St. Martha and now he is a priest in the Diocese of Venice.

This shows that praying for vocation is very important. Another example is St. Michael in Wauchula where there was instituted perpetual Adoration. With that there have been two women who joined the religious community of Incarnate Word. 

As Jesus called his apostles, especially the first four, we notice that they are from two families. Peter and Andrew are brothers, and also James and John are brothers. Vocation was fostered in their families; they encouraged one another and inspired each other to do something about their spiritual life. They went to John the Baptist, and eventually they became disciples of the Lord. 

Keep praying for your children and your grandchildren, which may make a difference in how they respond to the call of the Lord. I am sure that the Lord will call them. We need to pray to intercede to facilitate the response. You will never know of how far your prayer may go. 

Sincerely yours in Christ, 

Fr. Vincent Clemente