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This Sunday, April 29, is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  Last October, Pope Benedict XVI issued his message in honor of that day, which is reprinted below.  Also, below is an audio file of Fr. Benedict Croell, OP, the Vocations Director of the Province of St. Joseph, on WAOB Catholic Radio in Latrobe, PA.  Fr. Croell is speaking with Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB, on the Holy Father’s message for this World Day of Prayer.

The 49th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which will be celebrated on 29 April 2012, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, prompts us to meditate on the theme: Vocations, the Gift of the Love of God.

The source of every perfect gift is God who is Love – Deus caritas est: “Whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16). Sacred Scripture tells the story of this original bond between God and man, which precedes creation itself. Writing to the Christians of the city of Ephesus, Saint Paul raises a hymn of gratitude and praise to the Father who, with infinite benevolence, in the course of the centuries accomplishes his universal plan of salvation, which is a plan of love. In his Son Jesus – Paul states – “he chose us, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him in love” (Eph 1:4). We are loved by God even “before” we come into existence! Moved solely by his unconditional love, he created us “not … out of existing things” (cf. 2 Macc 7:28), to bring us into full communion with Him.

WAOB Radio interview with Fr. Ben Croell, OP, on the 39th World Day of Prayer for Vocations [ 33:37 ] Play Now
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In a letter dated December 1, 2011, His Eminence Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, Secretary of State for the Holy See, informed the Master of the Order of Preachers that the Holy Father had named Fr. Serge Thomas Bonino, OP, as the General Secretary of the International Theological Commission.  Fr. Bonino will be taking the position made vacant by another Dominican, Bishop Charles Morerod, OP, who was recently consecrated as Bishop of the Diocese of Fribourg, Lausanne, and Geneva in Switzerland. Fr. Serge Thomas is a member of the Toulouse Province in France.  He teaches philosophy at the Institute Catholique and theology at the Dominican Studium in Toulouse. He has already been serving as a member of the Commission.

In this video, Br. Reginald Lynch, O.P., explains the current ‘crisis of truth’ present in today’s culture. Realizing that all truth has its conclusion in God Himself, as the First Truth, Br. Reginald finds that the Dominican Order’s charism of proclaiming the truth of Christ crucified is especially necessary today.

Br. Reginald is in his fourth year as a student brother at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington D.C., and is studying Theology in the STL program. He is originally from Hanover, New Hampshire, and studied as an undergraduate at St. Lawrence University.

St. Augustine (354-430, feast day – Aug. 28) is referred to as “Our Holy Father” along with St. Dominic and St. Francis. Why? Because St. Dominic was required to choose a pre-existing Rule when he founded the Order of Friars Preachers. He and the first friars chose to follow the Rule of St. Augustine, and so we who, almost 800 years later, continue to profess obedience to “the Rule of Blessed Augustine” also continue to invoke his patronage over the whole Order.