One Universal Church Regardless of the Road You Travel

During your summer travels, does your family enjoy attending Mass at different churches?

Visiting different parishes has become one of my favorite parts of traveling. As you’re probably aware, Roman Catholic churches around the world read the same scriptures at Mass and follow the same format, making it quite easy to attend church while traveling.

Fun fact—the word “catholic” actually means universal.

During the last year and a half, I’ve been particularly struck by this universality of the Church. January of 2025 started a new phase of my life as my husband and I began traveling for his career. Due to his work situation, vacationing for fun, and visiting family, we ended up attending twenty-six different Catholic Churches for Mass in 2025, and we’re on track to do the same this year.

While I have certainly missed our home parish, I never once felt disconnected as we were always worshipping with fellow Catholics. The familiarity of the format of the Mass, the songs, the prayers, and the greetings were always comfortingly similar, making us feel welcome at every Mass we attended.

Last year I experienced another instance of universality when my husband and I traveled to Rome for the Jubilee celebration. As luck would have it, we were in the Eternal City for Pope Leo’s Inaugural Mass. The Mass was in Latin and Italian, with a few readings in other languages, but for the most part, I didn’t understand the exact words.

But it didn’t matter, because I actually did understand. I could participate because, even though I couldn’t recognize the words, I knew the prayers and could follow the readings on an app on my phone. I was surrounded by people who all spoke different languages, but we could all still worship together. It was a beautiful moment of connectiveness.

In many of our CTB stories, readers will encounter the Mass and experience the fruits of the sacrament as they unfold in characters’ lives, and maybe even develop their own appreciation of “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1324).

For example, in my story, A Summer to Treasure, the Webber family attends various unique churches during their month-long road trip. Into the Spotlight finds Josie embracing a calming presence as she attends Mass during her visit to South Carolina. And Liz discovers words of wisdom at a Catholic parish on a Caribbean island in Charting the Course.

What a blessing it is to be part of a community of believers throughout the world that belongs to the church Christ began. And that during Mass, no matter where we are, He is truly present for us. So, this summer, if you have a chance to attend services at a different parish, take a moment to appreciate the beauty of the unique universality of our Catholic community.

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About the author: Leslea Wahl is a Colorado native who loves to travel with her family. She strives to write entertaining stories that encourage teens to grow in their faith. Finding a way to intertwine her passions by creating adventurous mysteries with positive Christian messages for today's youth has been an incredible blessing. Leslea also has become an advocate for families by reviewing faith-based teen novels on her website.