Two things never cease to amaze me: the vastness and beauty of a starry sky and the voice of God echoing in the depths of the human heart. God addresses us in the wonderful book of creation, and we also discover Him in the sanctuary of our conscience - in the immensity that transcends us, and in the innermost reaches of our interior, which are also beyond our grasp: superior superio meo, intimior intima mea (higher than my highest and more inward than my innermost self), in the words of Saint Augustine. A vocation is God's mysterious revelation to an individual made from dust like every one else, giving him a mission that far exceeds his strength. It is Love who calls, and invites us to love and to spread love.  

I always honored, as pertaining to the world of the sacred, those men and women who listened to the voice of God in their interior and dedicated their lives to Him and to his Kingdom. But when Christ's call suddenly and unexpectedly burst into my life - a simple but powerful "Follow me" - I understood that the mystery that surrounds the vocation is the very mystery which is the pulse of the universe: the mystery of love which, in Dante's words, moves the sun and the stars. And not only the sun and the stars, but also human freedom.  

Every vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life is a unique, never to be repeated poem of love. It is a heart-to-heart dialogue between a free creature and his Creator who calls him to prolong in the world the mystery of the Incarnation, becoming "another Christ" for humanity. Christ will take possession of this man, who, without ceasing to be clay, carries the treasure of God's love and offers it to the world.  

Yet though we can see people's great need for God's love - God Himself - we find that there are few, very few laborers for the Lord's harvest. What can we do? Where can they be found? They are there in families, schools, universities, and youth groups, but first of all we must pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers to his vineyard. Many Christians take the Lord's command seriously and meet together to ask Christ in the Eucharist for this gift. And the Lord is not outdone in generosity; He gives in abundance. We only have to ask Him for it. 

A group of cloistered sisters in France tells this story. They had been years without vocations. The community was made up mostly of old religious and they were seriously concerned for the future of their convent. One day a family came to the visiting room - the parents and their three children, two girls and a boy. They had come to ask prayers for the health of one of the daughters, who was ill with leukemia. The little girl heard them mention the lack of vocations in the convent and decided to offer the sacrifices and pain her disease caused, for this intention.  

The following morning, for the first time in years, a young woman knocked on the door asking to be admitted. Others followed, giving new life to the community which is now thriving. We might be tempted to call it a mere coincidence, but if we believe in the words of Christ, ask and it shall be given to you, this and other similar cases show us the kindly hand of the Father who always listens to the humble, persistent and confident prayers of his children. Might not the lack of laborers in the Church be due to the fact that we pray little to the Lord of the harvest for them?  

This handbook is no more than an aid to more fruitful personal prayer before Christ in the Eucharist. Containing as it does prayers and other elements already in use in parishes and prayer groups, it does not claim to be original, but it will be of help. The last part contains a number of texts for meditation on the call, that are especially for those who can hear the Lord's insistent "Follow me," while He respects their freedom; words which can open a new and unsuspected direction in their lives.  

No doubt the Holy Spirit in the presence of the Eucharist will help each one of us to find the best way to pray and converse with Christ our Friend and Master truly present in the Eucharistic species. Adoration is best done in the company of Mary, who with her gentle hint in Cana - "They have no wine" - caused Jesus to work his first miracle. Through the power of her intercession she can convert the water of our cold hearts into the exquisite and delicate wine of love for God.