Vocations and Spirituality
1550 North Fresno
Street
Phone (559) 488-7424
Fax (559) 488-7475
vocations@dioceseoffresno.org
|
|
|
Vocations and Spirituality 1550 North Fresno
Street |
National Vocations Awareness Week 2008
Rev. Salvador Gonzalez, Jr.
Director of Vocations
Fr. Salvador Gonzalez is the Director of Vocations for the diocese. He assists those men who are seeking to serve as priests in the Diocese of Fresno. He also helps to develop vocation awareness and promotion programs and activities in the diocese
Message from the Director
Everyone has a vocation. It is at the very core of our unity with the Lord Jesus that is given to us in our Baptism. United with Jesus we share in his work of bringing the salvation of God to the world and to all people. We discover how we are called to do this by prayer and reflection with one another and our Church on the circumstances and situation of our lives, our Church and our world. This helps us recognize God's plan for our world and our society. And as we see this we understand our part in making it happen. It's never easy, but until we discern and begin to live our vocation, our lives will be filled with restlessness and unease. Once we begin to respond to our vocation we discover a sense of life and purpose we have never before known. We have begun a journey of sacrifice filled with joy.
Future priests should therefore cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of proper and due growth and realization of self, but also with a view to the ministry. These qualities are needed for them to be balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities. They need to be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity and, especially, to be balanced in judgment and behavior. (124)
PASTORES DABO VOBIS (
I WILL GIVE YOU SHEPHERDS)