VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The world needs God, which means it needs people who will dedicate their lives to serving him and serving others in God’s name, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“God is generous and all the local churches must be equally generous in their commitment to the pastoral work of vocations promotion,” the Pope wrote in a message to the Latin-American Continental Congress on Vocations.

The meeting, sponsored by the Latin American bishops’ council, was being held Jan. 31-Feb. 5 in Cartago, Costa Rica.

Pope Benedict said studies have shown that well organized and constantly supported vocations programs bear fruit, but it’s also true that a vocation is not a response to some kind of publicity campaign or job fair.

“In its deepest reality it is a gift of God, a mysterious and ineffable initiative of the Lord, who enters the life of a person enthralled by the beauty of his love and consequently giving rise to a total and definitive response to divine love,” the Pope wrote.

Pope Benedict said vocations will flourish only if young people are given ample opportunities for prayer and spiritual growth; that is the way they will experience divine love and discover how they are called to respond.