Prayericon

Family Resources

Five people are sitting on a bed, each holding prayer beads. The background features wall art with painted flowers. The room is warmly lit, and the group appears focused and engaged in their activity.

Information for Parents

Statistics tell us that most parents think that it’s tougher to be a parent now than it was when they were kids. Most feel they don’t have enough time for family life and that society isn’t supporting the values for which the family stands. Yours is the responsibility to help form young people into healthy, faith-filled, Christians in a world with competing values. As a parent, you are called to be one of the guideposts that kids need as they try to find their vocation in life. That call for some parents is to be the mother or father of a priest, deacon, or religious! Consider the mystery of God’s plan for your child’s life!

The ABCs of Fostering, Supporting and Nurturing Vocations within the Home

Family Vocation Prayer

Loving God, each member of our family is a special gift from you. You have given each of us gifts and talents so we may enjoy life, but also that we can share our blessings with others.



Generous men and women, boys and girls, are needed for service and leadership in our church. Help us know how to encourage and support each other so we can respond courageously to this need by becoming the kind of people you would want us to be.



We know that you are with us each step of the way. Help us to trust in you and in each other. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

 

Amen.

Two individuals with long hair stand with their backs to the camera, facing a leafy forest path. One wears a light hoodie, and the other a gray sweatshirt. Orange berries hang from the green foliage above.
Three people are seated in a living room, holding rosaries and booklets, possibly engaged in prayer or reflection.

Parent’s Prayer for their Children

Loving Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have created my children special and unique and I give you thanks and praise for them. Help me to guide them well and to pray for them deeply. Open their hearts to your word that they may know the sound of your voice in a world filled with distractions. May they hear your call to live lives of Christian service. If you are calling my children to a life of Church ministry, my prayer is that your call will be steady and irresistible.


 

Grant me, too, a generous heart to open my arms one day to give them to your service. Mother Mary, may your tender care keep my children safe, especially as they discern their vocations in life. Loving God, what I ask for my children, I ask for all children: help them to know your presence in their lives for you are God for ever and ever.

 

Amen.

Directors for Priestly Vocations

Send Us A Message

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pulido’s coat of arms is divided into four quarters with wavy horizontal lines from top to bottom. The blue and white lines represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also suggest water, which alludes to Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and to the waters of baptism. The red and gold lines represent the Holy Spirit and fire. The colors also can be seen as referring to the Blood that (along with water) poured from Jesus’ side at His crucifixion, as well as to the bread (gold) and wine (red) transformed into the Eucharist. At the center is a roundel featuring a symbolic representation of the “mandatum” (washing of the feet), which he believes exemplifies service to all humanity. The roundel’s outer edge is a line composed of small humps; it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Yakima, where Bishop Pulido served as a priest before being named a bishop.

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pham’s coat of arms depicts a red boat on a blue ocean, which is crisscrossed by diagonal lines suggesting a fisherman’s net. This symbolizes his ministry as a “fisher of men,” as well as how his own father had been a fisherman. The boat is also a symbol of the Church, which is often referred to as the “barque of Peter.” At the center of the sail is a red beehive (a symbol of the bishop’s baptismal patron saint, St. John Chrysostom, who was known as a “honey-tongued” preacher). The beehive is surrounded by two green palm branches (an ancient symbol of martyrdom; the bishop’s ancestors were among Vietnam’s first martyrs). The eight red tongues of fire around the boat are a symbol of the Holy Spirit and a representation of the diversity of ethnic and cultural communities. The red of the boat, the beehive and the tongues of fire allude to the blood of the martyrs.

About the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms combines symbols that reflect Bishop Bejarano’s spiritual life and priestly ministry. The main part of the shield shows four wavy vertical lines on a gold background. These represent flowing waters. This alludes to his chosen motto and also symbolizes the graces that come from the Divine life to quench our thirst for God. The upper third of the shield is red because it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Order of Mercy, of which the Bishop’s patron saint, Raymond Nonnatus, was a member. The central symbol resembles a monstrance because St. Raymond is often depicted holding one. The Eucharist is Bishop Bejarano’s inspiration for his vocation. It was through the Eucharist that he received his call to the priesthood at age seven and which keeps his faith and his ministry going. It represents the call to offer oneself as a living sacrifice. The monstrance is flanked on either side by an image of the Sacred Heart, alluding to the mercy of God and echoing the idea of a sacrificial offering of oneself united to the sacrifice of Christ, and of a rose for Our Lady. It is an allusion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and highlights the bishop’s Hispanic heritage.

Topics