Pope Leo’s message for the 63rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations
4th Sunday of Easter – April 26, 2026
“‘The discovery of God’s gift which flourishes in our hearts”
Dear brothers and sisters,
dear young people!
Guided and protected by the risen Jesus, we celebrate the 63rd World Day of Prayer for Vocations on the fourth Sunday of Easter— also known as “Good Shepherd Sunday”.
This is an occasion of grace when we share some reflections on the inner meaning of vocation,
as the discovery of God’s gift which flourishes in our hearts.
Together, let us explore the beautiful path of life that the Good Shepherd guides us along.
The way of beauty
In the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to himself as the “good shepherd” (John 10:11).
This refers to a perfect, authentic and exemplary shepherd who is willing to sacrifice his life for his flock, thereby revealing God’s love.
He draws us to himself, and his gaze reveals that life is truly beautiful when one follows him.
It is not enough to have the eyes of the body or aesthetic sensibilities alone to recognize this beauty; rather, contemplation and interiority are required.
Only those who pause, listen, pray and welcome the Shepherd’s gaze can say with confidence:
“I trust him; life with him can truly be beautiful. I want to walk this path of beauty.”
The most extraordinary thing is that by becoming his disciple, one truly becomes ‘beautiful’; his beauty transforms us.
As the theologian Pavel Florenskij wrote, asceticism does not merely produce a “good” person, but a “beautiful” one.. (see footnote 1 below)
Indeed, the defining feature of a saint is not goodness, but the luminous spiritual beauty that radiates from their life in Christ.
In this way, the Christian vocation is revealed in all its depth as participation in the life of Jesus, sharing in his mission and reflecting his beauty.
St. Augustine also had this interior experience of life, faith and meaning.
In the third book of the Confessions, he acknowledges the sins and errors of his youth and recognizes God as ‘more inward than my most inward part’.
St. Augustine discovers that this is more than self-knowledge.
It is the beauty of the divine light that guides him in the darkness.
Recognizing God’s presence in the depths of his soul, St. Augustine realized the importance of nurturing an interior life as a means of encountering Christ and experiencing the beauty and goodness of God in his own lives.
Such a relationship is based on prayer and silence.
When cultivated, it opens us to receiving and actively responding to the gift of vocation.
It is neither an imposition nor a one-size-fits-all model to which one merely conforms.
Instead, it is an adventure of love and happiness.
Therefore, based on our commitment to nurturing the interior life, we must urgently renew our vocational ministry and recommit to evangelization.
In light of this, I invite everyone, including families, parish communities 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 this gift to be embraced, nourished, protected and supported, so that it may bear abundant fruit.
It is only when our surroundings are illuminated by living faith, sustained by constant prayer and enriched by fraternal support that God’s call can blossom and mature, becoming a path of happiness and salvation for individuals and the world.
Embarking on the path shown to us by Jesus, the Good Shepherd, enables us to know ourselves and the God who calls us more deeply.
Mutual awareness
“The Lord of life knows us and enlightens our hearts with his loving gaze.”
Indeed, every vocation begins with the awareness of a God who is love (cf. 1 John 4:16 — we know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him..
He knows us profoundly; he has counted the hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30 — not a hair will fall from your head without your Father knowing) and envisaged a unique path of holiness and service for each person. Yet this awareness must always be reciprocal.
We are invited to get to know God through prayer, listening to the Word, the Sacraments, the life of the Church, and doing works of charity for our brothers and sisters.
Like the young Samuel, who unexpectedly heard the voice of the Lord during the night and learned to recognize it with the help of Eli (1 Sam 3:1–10 – the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. 2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place; 3 the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down within the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!”[b] and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6 And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.10 And the Lord came and stood forth, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for thy servant hears.”).
In order to hear what the Lord desires for our happiness, we too must create a space for interior silence. This is not a matter of lofty ideas or scholarly learning, but of a life-transforming personal encounter. God dwells in our hearts.
A vocation involves an intimate dialogue with the One who calls us and invites us to respond with true joy and generosity, despite the deafening noise of the world.
‘Do not go outside yourself. Return within yourself. Truth dwells in the inner person.”
St. Augustine reminds us once again how important it is to learn to pause and create space for interior silence so that we may hear the voice of Jesus Christ: (St. Augustine, On True Religion).
Dear young people, listen to this voice!
Listen to the voice of the Lord, who invites you to live a full and fruitful life.
He calls on you to use your talents (See The Parable of the Talents in footnote 2 below) and to accept your limitations and weaknesses alongside the glorious cross of Christ.
Make time for Eucharistic adoration, faithfully meditate on the word of God so that you can put it into practice daily, and actively participate in the sacramental and ecclesial life of the Church.
In this way, you will get to know the Lord.
Through the intimacy of His friendship, you will discover how to dedicate your lives to Him, whether through marriage, the priesthood, the permanent diaconate or consecrated life.
Every vocation is an immeasurable gift to the Church and to those who embrace it with joy.
Knowing the Lord means, above all, learning to entrust yourself to him and his abundant providence in every vocation.
Trust
Knowledge leads to confidence — a mindset that stems from faith and is vital for embracing one’s vocation and persevering in it.
Life is indeed a continual act of trusting in the Lord and abandoning ourselves to him, even when his plans differ from our own
Consider St Joseph, who despite the Virgin’s mysterious and unexpected pregnancy, trusted the divine message revealed to him in a dream, welcoming Mary and her child with obedience (Matthew 1:18-25; 2:13-15).
Joseph of Nazareth is the epitome of complete trust in God’s plans.
Even when everything around him seemed shrouded in darkness and uncertainty, and events appeared to diverge from his own plans, he trusted.
He trusted in God and surrendered himself to his will, certain of the Lord’s goodness and fidelity.
“In every situation, Joseph declared his own ‘fiat’, just as Mary did at the Annunciation and Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane.”
As the Jubilee of Hope reminded us, it is necessary to cultivate firm and steadfast trust in God’s promises, without ever yielding to despair.
We must overcome fears and doubts, confident that the Lord of history — both of the world and of our own personal story — is risen.
He does not abandon us in our darkest hours but comes to dispel every shadow with his light.
Through the light and strength of his Spirit, even amid trials and crises, we can see our vocation grow and mature, reflecting ever more fully the beauty of the One who has called us — a beauty shaped by fidelity and trust, despite our wounds and failures.
Maturation
A vocation is not a fixed point, but rather a dynamic process of maturation sustained by intimacy with our Lord.
Growing in one’s vocation means spending time with Jesus, allowing the Holy Spirit to act in our hearts and in the circumstances of our lives, and interpreting everything in light of this gift.
As in the parable of the vine and the branches (John 15:1-8), we must establish a strong and vital bond with the Lord throughout our lives, so that we may respond more wholeheartedly to his call, even through trials and necessary ‘pruning’.
The ‘places’ where God’s will is most evident, and where we experience his infinite love, are often the authentic, fraternal bonds we form throughout our lives.
How precious it is to have a true spiritual guide to accompany us on our vocational journey!
It is also important to discern and test the promptings of the Holy Spirit so that a vocation can be realized in all its beauty.
Therefore, a vocation is not something that is immediately possessed — it is not something that is ‘given’ once and for all.
Instead, it is a journey that evolves much like life itself.
In order to grow and bear fruit, the gift we have received must be protected and nourished by a daily relationship with God.
‘This is helpful, since it situates our whole life in relation to the God who loves us. It makes us realise that nothing is the result of pure chance, but that everything in our lives can become a way of responding to the Lord, who has a wonderful plan for us’ (Pope Francis, ‘Patris Corde’). (Pope Francis, ‘Patris Corde’)
Dear brothers and sisters, dear young people,
I encourage you to develop a personal relationship with God by praying and meditating on his word every day.
Take time to pause, listen and entrust yourselves.
In this way, your vocation will flourish, bringing you happiness and bearing much fruit for the Church and the world.
May the Virgin Mary, who modelled the acceptance of divine gifts and was an expert in prayerful listening, always accompany you on this journey!
From the Vatican, 16 March 2026
LEO PP. XIV
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Footnote 1
“Asceticism produces not a ‘good’ or ‘kind’ man but a beautiful one, and the distinguishing feature of the saintly ascetics is not their ‘kindness,’ which even people of the flesh, and very sinful ones, can possess, but spiritual beauty, the blinding beauty of a radiant, light-bearing person, a beauty wholly inaccessible to the man of flesh” (P. Florenskij, The Pillar and Ground of the Truth).
