As Catholics prepare to mark the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Francis put out a message underscoring the importance of recognizing those serving the Church.

“This year I would ask you, in your reflection and prayer, to take as your guide the theme ‘Vocation: Grace and Mission,’” the pontiff said in a statement. “This Day is a precious opportunity for recalling with wonder that the Lord’s call is grace, complete gift, and at the same time a commitment to bring the Gospel to others.” 

Sunday marks the 60th annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations. It falls on the fourth Sunday of Easter, sharing the stage with “Good Shepherd Sunday,”  when Masses give parishioners a chance to reflect on the Gospel teaching highlighting Jesus as the Good Shepherd who sacrifices himself for his flock. The Prayer for Vocations aspect of the day encourages prayer and reflection on the importance of religious vocations in the Church, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said. 

“We are called to a faith that bears witness, one that closely connects the life of grace, as experienced in the sacraments and ecclesial communion, to our apostolate in the world,” Pope Francis said. “Led by the Spirit, Christians are challenged to respond to existential peripheries and human dramas, ever conscious that the mission is God’s work; it is not carried out by us alone, but always in ecclesial communion, together with our brothers and sisters, and under the guidance of the Church’s pastors. For this has always been God’s dream: that we should live with him in a communion of love.”

The National Religious Vocation Conference reports that numerous religious organizations conduct events to promote and pray for vocations. Many future priests and nuns participate in such parish activities before taking their final vows. Individuals interested in pursuing vocations can request opportunities to speak, distribute materials, and discuss vocations by approaching their respective parishes. 

"This is now the 60th time that we are celebrating the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, established by St. Paul VI in 1964, during the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council," Pope Francis said, according to the Vatican. "This providential initiative seeks to assist the members of the People of God, as individuals and as communities, to respond to the call and mission that the Lord entrusts to each of us in today’s world, amid its afflictions and its hopes, its challenges and its achievements.”