Vocation
Today is Vocations Sunday when we think and pray for the need of the church for priests, deacons, religious community members and lay leaders. We pray that the people who are starting to hear a whisper of a calling, the call that they know is not their conscious mind, may follow it.
It’s also Good Shepherd Sunday. In John’s gospel Jesus tells us ‘I am the good shepherd’. When the good shepherd calls their sheep, the sheep follow that call. We have to be alert to where our good shepherd is calling us, and be prepared for where it might take us. He knows best and the destination is his.
Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church
is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry
they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
God who calls us all to contribute to your Kingdom,
Take our insecurities and vulnerabilities and weave them through with your holy confidence, which always reassures us that we have something to offer.
As we explore what you are asking of us, we pray for integrity of heart, clarity of mind, and a yearning to love and serve others wherever that may take us; for deep peace about this next step, and for God’s Light in our eyes. Amen.
Susan Patterson (Reader at St Stephen’s,
Vocations Champion in the Dulwich Deanery)
26 April 2026
