Begging the Harvest Master for Religious Vocations by Sr. Lou Ella Hickman, OVISS

"Lord, / They are out there / Waiting . . ."

Ambrogio Iorenzetti, Group of Poor Clares, from the Chapter of St. Francis in Siena, ca. 1320-25. Sailko / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0

Lord,
They are out there
Waiting . . .
Waiting to be asked
Like late in the day harvest workers.
You said,
Beg for them.
I do.
Yet
I wonder why they wait
With so many people starving to hear they are loved.
So many wait for such good news.

Sister Lou Ella Hickman is a widely published poet and a member of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament of Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the author of the poetry collections she: robed and wordless (2015) and Writing the Stars (2024), published by Press 53.

*Note: We publish this poem in honor of Catholic Sisters Week, March 8–14, 2026. The author offers a suggestion for a spiritual activity to accompany the poem: “After you pray for an increase of religious vocations, ask one young person per week, ‘Have you ever thought of a religious vocation?’ Thank you ahead of time for doing so.”