Watched World Youth Day...

...on the internet. Some 3 million young people, praying together. Although the mainstream media focused on the crowds and the sheer amazing spectacle of it all, the reality - as anyone who has been to WYD recognises - is in the prayer, the times of silence, the extraordinary experience of being at Mass with such a sense of unity of purpose among such a gigantic number. One commentator noted that during one time of utter silence, you could hear the swish of the waves on the sand...and this with some 3 million people present...

There was a sense of energy evident at Rio - and, despite (or perhaps because of?) the rain and cold, a sense of mirth. The dancing flash mob thing was fun : our Medieval ancestors would have approved. The jollity and the willingness of bishops and clergy to enter into the spirit of the thing - most of them rather stiffly raising hands and turning around and so on, but the thought was there - sent out a cheery message.  But the great reality of WYD is in the fact that people come together to show their faith in Christ and their bond with the Church: something needed more and more in a world in which Christians face immense challenges. Most of what goes on - early morning prayers, Masses in churches and  chapels across the WYD city and its suburbs, hymns and rosaries and hours of adoration, talks, catechesis, counsel, advice - doesn't get noticed by the TV or the bloggers. The latter includes the inevitable wannabe journalists who pick on an item highlighted by the mainstream media and add a comment and slant, usually missing the main point.