One didn't have to be Catholic to suck in the youthful exuberance at the packed WIN Entertainment Centre on Saturday night for the commissioning Mass for the pilgrims heading to Sydney for the Pope's visit and World Youth Day events.

It was intoxicating to see young people celebrating the joys of their faith. Their preparedness for such a public display goes against these times, when the gods of materialism, secularism and individualism rule.

Wollongong's Catholic Bishop Peter Ingham, in his sermon, drew on the need for all of us to shut out the din of society and to listen to our inner needs.

It will be a message the Pope relays too in the coming week, calling us to reflect on our spirituality - whatever that means to each of us.