Paintings unveiled to put vocations in the frame

The Calling of St Matthew

07/04/08

This Sunday is Vocations Sunday and the Church of England has produced a set of reflective resources based on four devotional images available on the Church's website to get people talking and thinking.

Vocations Sunday is an opportunity for encouraging everyone to reflect and discover the various things to which God might be calling them. Organisers hope that the special resources will widen the reach of the annual event and prompt an exploration of the theme of Christian Vocation, both in the world and in the church.

The images used are:

• The Calling of St Matthew, painting by Caravaggio
• Simon the Cyrenean, illumination by Irene Perez-Omer
• The Calling Forth of Lazarus, fresco from chapel at Sacro Convento, Assisi
• The Conversion of St Francis, fresco from chapel at Sacro Convento, Assisi

A series of questions and reflections on the theme of vocation have been devised for each painting, alongside a collection of prayers inspired by the scene depicted. The reflections and questions aim to aid meditation and spark discussion, and have been written in a format that could easily be adapted for either small group use or as the basis of a sermon.

“God calls everyone. We are called to follow different paths and called in different ways, and we can hear and discover our call in different circumstances,” says Joanna Cox, the Church of England’s National Adviser in Lay Discipleship and Shared Ministry.

“Artists have tried to capture and reflect on significant moments and milestones in some vocational journeys. These pictures can help us think about some of the very different ways calling and vocation may be found.”

To access the material, follow the front page link to ‘Vocations Sunday’ at www.cofe.anglican.org.