A Journey of Faith - Catholic Travels

Many people enjoy traveling. People travel to visit family and friends, to visit new places and experience new things, and to return to familiar, favorite places. Travel and tourism are a major contributor to the local, state, national, and international economy. One popular time for travel, Labor Day, is in our rearview mirror. Other popular times for travel, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, are just around the corner. What if we combined our enjoyment of traveling with our love for Christ, the importance of our faith, and the desire to deepen that faith? In this blog post, I do just that. For those who enjoy traveling, love their Catholic faith, and seek to grow in that faith, I suggest consideration of four opportunities – 2024 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana, Mission Trips, 2025 Jubilee Year Pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, and 2027 World Youth Day in Seoul, South Korea. 

2024 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana 

A Eucharistic Congress is a gathering of Catholics – lay, religious, and clergy - to celebrate the Eucharist and strengthen and share our belief in Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist. Eucharistic Congresses can take place at many levels including diocesan, regional, national, and international. The last United States National Eucharistic Congress, the ninth National Eucharistic Congress in the United States took place eighty-two years ago, in 1941, in St. Paul Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

The tenth United States National Eucharistic Congress, which is expected to draw 80,000+ participants, will take place July 17-21, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium. You can expect Mass, formation, healing, conversion, fellowship, anointing, and mission. Some of the guest speakers include Bishop Robert Barron, Sister Miriam James Heidland, Fr. Mike Schmitz, Gloria Purvis, Fr. Josh Johnson, and Montse Alvarado. Please visit eucharisticcongress.org for more information. 

Would you like to go the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress with us? Please let me know! 

Mission Trips 

Catholic mission trips are short-term (typically anywhere from five to ten days) to serve others’ needs, to deepen one’s faith while furthering a relationship with Jesus, developing Christ-centered relationships, and sharing Christ and his message with others through word and deed. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops articulates the great possibility of mission trips in Part IV of Disciples Called to Witness: 

Social justice and direct service opportunities provide powerful experiences with the person of Jesus, especially for adolescents and young adults. Service, when understood as serving Christ in others and as a means to share the Gospel, has the ability to bring the server and the one being served closer to Christ. 

If you have a daughter or son in middle school, high school, or college, or in their early adult life, please keep an eye out for mission trip opportunities in 2024 and beyond. 

2025 Jubilee Year Pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi 

A pilgrimage is more than a trip during which we visit some religious, holy, and historic sites. A pilgrimage has a deeper, spiritual meaning. Early Christians, quite familiar with Jewish pilgrimages especially connected with certain feasts, were eager to follow the footsteps of Jesus, Mary, and the Apostles. In the fourth century, pilgrimages became an important part of Catholicism as disciples wanted to visit places connected to Jesus’ life and the tombs of martyrs and saints. Christians undertook pilgrimages as a sacrifice for the faith, an act of penitence, a search for deeper faith. Prayer is an important part of any pilgrimage. 

Pilgrimages can be done alone but are often done in groups. When done as a group, a pilgrimage is an opportunity to develop authentic, Christ-centered relationships with fellow pilgrims. Pilgrimages can be any length from a day to a weekend to a week or longer and can be to sites local, national, or international. 

I will be leading a Jubilee Year pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, October 8-16, 2025. Though Pope Francis called an extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy in 2015, the 2025 Jubilee Year is “ordinary” in that it follows the norm of leaving a twenty-five-year gap between each one. The most recent ordinary jubilee took place in the year 2000, at the turn of the millennium. If you would like to join a group of “Pilgrims of Hope” (theme for 2025 Jubilee Year) and join me on pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi in the fall of 2025, please contact me for additional information. 

World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul, South Korea 

World Youth Day is an international gathering for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was started by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1985. It now takes place every four years. Its themes include the universality of the Church, diversity and unity within the Church, solidarity among young people from many nations, and the Church’s accompaniment of young people on the journey of life and faith. Activities during World Youth Day include celebration of Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Sacrament of Penance, catechesis (instruction), Stations of the Cross, and service. The Pope is typically present during key moments of the week leading up to World Youth Day. 

The most recent World Youth Day was held this summer in Lisbon, Portugal. Pope Francis announced at the conclusion of the final Mass of World Youth Day 2023 that the next World Youth Day will be held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2027. If you have a son or daughter who is entering grade 6, 7, 8 or beyond this fall and who might be interested in going to Seoul, South Korea for World Youth Day 2027, please contact Jim Flanagan.