Archbishop Nelson Perez of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia kicked off National Vocation Awareness Week this week as the speaker at the fourth annual “The Call” program. 

National Vocation Awareness Week, which takes place every November, is celebrated as a week to pray for those who are considering a vocation to the priesthood, diaconate, or other consecrated life, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). 

“This morning, I was honored to be the Keynote Speaker, on the topic of vocations, at Saint Helena Parish, for Philadelphia’s 4th Annual 'The Call' program, for youth and adults of the parish.  This event is a precursor to National Vocation Awareness Week 2021, which kicks-off tomorrow across our five-county Archdiocese. Please join me in continuing to pray for vocations to the priesthood, consecrated religious life, and Deaconate. May God bless these young people!” said Archbishop Perez in a tweet on Saturday. 

As part of the week, which runs from Nov. 7 through 13, The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will run a wide variety of events to help promote vocations and to provide resources for those who wish to learn more, according to its website.  

On Tuesday, Nov. 9, there will be a prayerful Holy Hour at the Nativity of Our Lord Parish in Warminster at 7 p.m., then on Nov. 10 at 6:30 p.m., young adults are invited to Mass, dinner, and a panel discussion with Father Friel and the seminarians at the St. Stanislaus Parish in Philadelphia. There will also be Mass, lunch, talks, and activities for students at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, a Holy Hour in Spanish, and on Nov. 13, the Seminarian Vocation’s basketball team will face the local CYO team from Holy Rosary Regional School, according to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's website. 

Those who are interested in learning more about the call to vocations can find more information on the Diocesan Priesthood’s website where there are more than 60 seminarians in the Archdiocese in videos explaining how they felt called to their vocation.