What's the big deal about World Youth Day?

I have noticed that many people do not know about World Youth Day. I mean they never even heard of it.  When I mention I'm going, they look at me curiously as if I'm talking about some sort of regional high school pep rally that wouldn't garner the interest of a local newspaper. Perhaps they take the word "World" in the title lightly, like "the world's largest corn palace" that only fascinates  people who are interested in buildings made of strange materials, or in all the wonderful things you can do with corn.

No, there's nothing corny about World Youth Day; and it may be the fruit of an abundant harvest, but it's a harvest of a completely different kind.   When they say 160 countries will be represented, they don't mean just a handful from each one. They mean hundreds and thousands from many of them. It is the largest gathering in the world, period.  Nothing even comes close. They can't even estimate the number that may show up at the Vigil Mass with the Pope on the final day. Since the election of Pope Francis, they say many from his home country of  Argentina are signing up last minute. In fact, the Argentine Pope is a source of pride for all Hispanics in a way, so I won't be surprised if his election inspired more people from all around Latin America to come.

So this is my first WYD, first time going to Brazil, and I'm going to see the first Pope from the New World and the Southern Hemisphere. The things I've already heard of this champion of the poor have inspired me. I heard he encouraged all priests and religious sisters with luxury cars to sell the cars, buy something more modest, and give the rest of the money to the poor; and he invited the poor to dine with him in The Vatican. He'll visit the slums of Rio, and won't use the Popemobile there.

Apparently, Pope Francis rightly sees WYD as the perfect opportunity to exemplify Catholic Social Teaching, because the great event has gained such communal power. The message of charity that politicians and celebrities try to convey on similar big stages will be put in action when Pope Francis comes to Rio de Janeiro.

I find the roots of this colossal event 28 years ago to be quite ironic. Pope John Paul II called the first WYD in 1985 in solidarity with the United Nation's declaration of an International Youth Year. So, in an age when people are saying religion is becoming less and less relevant, and when they're saying the Church no longer has the communal power it once had to unite nations, the United Nations declares a year for the youth and the Catholic Church runs with the idea, bringing together more young people than the U.N. ever could even if it hosted an event with every rock star and global leader in the world. Back in 1985, it was as if Mother Church was saying, "You want to unite the new generation and give people hope, United Nations? Let me show you how it's done."

Tomorrow we will take off from Newark Liberty International Airport for a day of air travel to Rio, to continue the legacy that began in Pope John Paul II's historic pontificate. All the preparations have been made. The wait is over. Tomorrow it begins... well, kind of.