The SVD Australia Province celebrated Good Shepherd Sunday – World Day of Prayer for Vocations by launching a new suite of vocations materials, urging young people to begin a dialogue with God about where their life is going.

Vocations Director, Fr Joe Jacob SVD, said the new brochures, posters and social media materials helped explain what a vocation is and also issued an invitation to consider life as a Divine Word Missionary.

“Discovering your vocation is a journey called discernment - and it can begin at any stage of life,” the poster says.

“Discernment means learning to listen to God in prayer, in your experiences, and in the quiet desires of your heart.”

Fr Joe said God calls each person in a unique way.

“As Pope Leo XIV reminds us, ‘A vocation entails an intimate dialogue with the One who calls’,” he said.

“Your vocation is how God invites you to love, to serve and to give your Iife for others.”

Fr Joe said that if the question of becoming a Divine Word Missionary has crossed a young man’s mind, it may already be the beginning of something deeper.

“As a Divine Word Missionary, you would join a global, multicultural community of priests and brothers, sent to proclaim the Word of God and to serve across cultures and nations,” the Vocations poster says.

“Our mission is to bring Christ to all peoples - especially where the Gospel Is not yet known - and to build communities of faith through service, dialogue, and witness.

“God often speaks in quiet and unexpected ways - through your experiences, your desires, and the questions that stay with you.”

In his homily for Good Shepherd Sunday, Fr Peter Wang SVD, who was ordained to the priesthood in Melbourne last year and now serves as assistant priest at Mother of the Church parish in Macquarie Fields, said there are many voices competing for our attention in the world.

“So, vocation is not first about what you become. It is about who you listen to,” he said.

“This is true for all of us. Some are called to priesthood. Some to religious life. Many are called to marriage, to family life,” he said.

“But every vocation begins with Listening. Listening to the voice of the Shepherd … because there are many voices in our world. But only one voice gives life.”

He invited people to take a moment to listen, and ask: “Where is God calling you right now?”

“Maybe not to something big. Maybe something small: to forgive someone, to return to prayer, to trust Him again, to take one step closer to Jesus,” he said.

“Because the Shepherd is still speaking— not only in big moments, but in quiet, daily ways.

And if we learn, slowly, to recognise His voice, we will discover something deeper: We will discover peace. We will discover direction. We will discover life. And most of all, we will discover that we are deeply loved by God.”

Meanwhile, Fr Joe said the Province’s Vocations Team was ready to welcome anyone who has questions about whether they might be being called by God to explore a missionary life with the SVD.

“I would just encourage anyone who is asking those questions to take the next step - begin the conversation, and explore where God is leading you,” he said.

The new vocations materials, which were designed by Matthew Price of Transformation by Design, will be available in SVD parishes as well as on the Province website and social media channels.

Discover your vocation: divinewordorg.au/vocation or call +61 2 9069 2666 or visit us via our social media channels @svdaus.