The Catholic Church marked the 60th annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations on Sunday with a message from Pope Francis.

“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,” the pontiff said, according to a report in the Vatican News. 

The day this year fell on "Good Shepherd Sunday,” the Fourth Sunday of Easter. Good Shepherd Sunday’s message is for people to reflect on the Gospel teaching that highlights Jesus as the Good Shepherd who sacrifices himself for his flock. That it coincides with the World Day of Prayer for Vocations is purposeful as pursuing vocations within the Church allows one to serve as a shepherd after the model Jesus offered, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said in a release. 

“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,” the pope 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 communion.”

Churches across the country celebrate the vocations by offering special events. They carry significance as participating in such things is often the last thing someone does before taking the final vows, the National Religious Vocation Conference said. Those interested in pursuing vocations also have the chance to distribute materials and engage in discussions about them 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.”