Dear Members of the Hospitaller Family of St John of God
The members of the General Commission for Vocations Promotion and Formation of the Hospitaller order of Saint John of God send you our Easter greetings and at the same time we would like to offer you the prayer material we have prepared this year for the 7th Hospitaller Week of Prayer for Vocations.
Every region in the world has been been dealt grievous suffering by the pandemic, and just as we seemed to be overcoming this problem, war broke out. Such situations always bring sadness and invite us to ask ourselves: what are we doing with our lives, what are we doing for our common home, and for the people around us?
Although we are witnessing grievous situations in the present times, in the midst of it the Holy Spirit continues to raise up charismatic vocations ready to give of their all, in order to build a better world.
This year, 2022, the Hospitaller Order is celebrating the 450th anniversary of the Bull Licet ex debito, which calls to mind the very origins of the Order, which were far from easy for the first Brothers. This is an invitation to return to the sources of Hospitality. To recall John of God’s dedication to healing the suffering of the sick and poor of Granada; at the same time, the Bull reminds us of the witness of hospitality borne by the first Brothers, who were witnesses to John of God’s mission and were recognised by all the people of Granada.
The General Commission for Vocations Promotion and Formation would like to offer you a
document of prayers for the Week of Prayer for Vocations, which invites us to return to the origins of our charism and continues to take up the words of Pope Francis in his message each year, calling on us to pray to the Lord of the harvest for vocations in the Church.
We invite you, as a community, to join together in this prayer for the gift of the hospitaller
vocation to the Church and in particular to the Hospitaller Order of St John of God
May St John of God and St Richard Pampuri, whose feast we have just celebrated, pray for us all.