The Fourth Sunday of Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday in the Catholic Church. It's a day dedicated to special prayers for vocations. During the Eucharist, a passage from the Gospel of John is read where Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:1-10).The Church established the practice of praying for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in 1964 by Pope Paul VI. Since then, one of the Sundays in the Easter season, known as Good Shepherd Sunday, has been dedicated to praying for vocations.It's important to ask God to bless many young people with the gift of vocation. We need to pray for the youth so that they can bravely heed God's call. We should also pray that there be no dearth of good shepherds who will fearlessly lay down their lives for the sheep. We must not forget the pastors who have already answered God's call. These are the priests and religious who follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd and give their lives every day. In the privacy of their rectories or convents, they offer their suffering, loneliness, and spiritual struggles for the people. They follow the Good Shepherd, and like Him, lay down their lives for the sheep.
