Last Sunday’s Mass, which was broadcast on RTÉ One Television, saw 75,000 people tuned in to be part of the annual celebration for Vocations Sunday. The viewership figures for the Mass show that 22.9% of the available television audience at the time, tuned in to the Mass.

The Mass was celebrated by Father Willie Purcell, National Coordinator for Diocesan Vocations. In his homily for the Mass, Father Purcell said, “We have learned many things from Covid 19, we have learned the importance of family, friends, community, going to church, and the appreciation of the simple things in life, the changing of the seasons as we look out our windows, the smiling faces of family, friends, neighbours, community members and parishoners as they greet us from a distance and the generosity of many who perhaps leave a gift at our door to cheer us and let us know they are thinking of us.  We have also learned the importance of quiet spaces, time alone and perhaps the opportunity to pray in our homes, on line – and find God in the silence and even the loneliness of these days.

“While Covid 19 has taken many things from us, it has not taken our dreams.  We dream of  the day when we will have some normality and return in a new way to what we once knew.”

Commenting on the large numbers tuned into the Mass, Father Purcell said, “The World Day of Prayer for Vocations is an important day for us as a Church as we really focus in on encouraging vocations to the  priesthood, the diaconate and the consecrated life. We all share in the responsibility of fostering these vocations through our witness and our lives of prayer. It is really encouraging to all of us working in the area of vocations promotion to know that so many people were tuned in from their homes to be part of an outpouring of prayer for vocations.”

ENDS