Bishop Edward Weisenburger, of the Diocese of Tucson, invites the faithful to join him for a World Day of the Sick Mass at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Thomas the Apostle Church.

The Mass will include "the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, Blessing of Caregivers, submitting prayer petitions to be taken to Lourdes, and receiving holy water from Lourdes," the diocese said in a Wednesday Facebook post. "For 60 years, the Order of Malta has been flying 60 sick people and their caregivers to Lourdes each year. Please join us in prayer at St. Thomas the Apostle this Saturday!"

St. Pope John Paul II established World Day of the Sick 30 years ago as a way to encourage Catholic people and institutions to be attentive to the sick and their caregivers, a February release on Vatican.va said. 

"Many advances have been made, yet there is still a long way to go in ensuring that all the sick, also those living in places and situations of great poverty and marginalization, receive the health care they need, as well as the pastoral care that can help them experience their sickness in union with the crucified and risen Christ," Pope Francis said in the Vatican release. 

The Anointing of the Sick is a Sacrament in which Jesus—by way of a priest—lays His hand on a person who has a serious illness, a release on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) website said. Hopefully, the person receiving the Sacrament will be physically healed. 

"But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit's gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age," the USCCB release said.

St. Thomas the Apostle Church is located at 5150 N. Valley View Road in Tucson.