POMETTO: Take Courage ... No Google Maps in Seoul!

South Korean flags are seen as Pope Francis celebrates the closing Mass during World Youth Day at Campo da Graça in Park Tejo in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 6, 2023. The pope announced after the Mass that Korea would be the the site of the next World Youth Day in 2027. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)I attended my first World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain, back in 2011. On the last day, I remember saying to a friend, “I can check World Youth Day (WYD) off my list now. One is enough for me.” 

I can almost hear the Heavenly Father chuckling a little as I said those words to my friend. Little did I know then that the Lord would eventually call me to Texas and ask me to continue leading young pilgrims on these international trips. I am beginning preparations now for my fourth WYD experience in Seoul, South Korea, coming up in August 2027.

WYD is a very physically challenging event. We typically walk anywhere from 3 to 7 miles each day. Ubers, metros and buses aren’t always possible due to the large volume of people attending the event. Every WYD also includes an overnight vigil that starts with a 5- to 10-mile hike to the vigil site. At the vigil, we camp out in a large field, which could be soft, lovely grass like in Madrid and Rome, or it could be hard, rocky dirt like in Lisbon.

Despite the challenges, though, World Youth Day is also an event full of abundant blessings. For WYD in Madrid in 2011, the main blessing I received was the gift of new friendships. In Lisbon in 2023, I witnessed the gift of faith that seemed to increase exponentially each day in the hearts of our more than 100 young adults from Houston. And in Rome last summer, I experienced the joy and beauty of our Catholic Church — both in entering the four Jubilee Holy Doors and by encountering our new pontiff, Pope Leo XIV.

As I look ahead to Seoul, I admit feeling a little bit of fear and trepidation. All my previous WYD experiences were located in Europe, a place where I’d traveled before during my semester abroad in college. I have never traveled to Asia. This WYD in South Korea will be a brand-new experience for me that will, I’m sure, push me out of my comfort zone. One of the first things I’ve learned about Seoul is that Google Maps doesn’t work there. How am I supposed to get around a new city without Google Maps?

The theme for WYD 2027 comes from the Gospel of John, where Jesus tells us: “Take Courage! I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). I am already seeing the wisdom in this theme as I work to overcome my own fears of traveling to a new place without a reliable and familiar app to lead the way.

I hope and pray that the young adults of the Archdiocese will also take comfort in these words. I hope they will “Take courage” and rise above all their fears — fears of the financial commitment of the trip, anxiety about not knowing any other pilgrims, or uncertainty about what will be in the mystery bag of food we receive on the way to the vigil (okay, that’s one of my fears again).

“Take courage! I have overcome the world,” Jesus tells us. 

In my experience, when the Lord asks us to face something challenging, it is only to lead us to even more abundant blessings that we could not have received without the difficulties. I hope all the young adults of our Archdiocese will check out the details and consider joining us for the pilgrimage to Seoul in 2027. For more information, go to www.archgh.org/wyd2027.

Angela E. Pometto is the director of the Office of Young Adult & Campus Ministry.