(CatholicMusicNetwork.com)  JULY 1 2002 - From July 18th to the 28th, 2002, the eyes of the world will be on Toronto, Canada. More than 500,000 people from over 150 countries will gather to fellowship and pray with each other for World Youth Day 2002. They will reflect on the enormous challenges of this century, such as bioethics, globalization, freedom, peace and the dignity of the human person. The theme of WYD 2002 is "You Are the Salt of the Earth ... You Are the Light of the World".

Light Of The World/Lumihre Du Monde is also the name of the official CD for World Youth Day 2002. It contains more than two dozen tracks of various music, including great songs by contemporary Catholic artists from around the world such as Tony Melendez, Sarah Hart, Tom Booth, Hermana Glenda, Steve Angrisano and many more.

Many of the bands will be performing in or around the events of WYD 2002. One band hoping to be asked to perform for the Holy Father and the gathered youth is Critical Mass. "The bands haven't been officially chosen, but we are hoping to be there and we will definitely be playing during the many WYD 2002 Diocesan events in Canada," says Critical Mass band member, Dave Wang. "We also performed at the World Youth Day Countdown event last July. It's an honor and a bit overwhelming to be involved at any level."

What makes it even more overwhelming for Dave and the members of Critical Mass is that they hail from Canada. The band members include Dave and his wife Jodie, Eric Kubica, Tom and Sharon Pawelko (the other husband and wife of the group), Matthew Bierschbach, and two brothers, Tim and Matt Devine. "When we started performing four years ago, we never expected to get this far. We started by playing for as few as 30 people at a time," recalls Dave. Recording their first CD, "Faith Looks Up," on a shoestring budget, the band members were shocked to see it take off in sales and get rave reviews. "It has done very well for us," Dave continues. "It won the United Catholic Music and Video Association Award for Best Modern Rock Album and there are several songs which are still concert favorites." The band recently decided to let the CD "Faith Looks Up" go out of print. "It was a hard decision, as songs like 'Body and Blood,' a Communion song, have really touched people."

With their second CD, "Completely", Critical Mass won the Canadian Gospel Music Association Award for Best Rock Album. "It was this which probably made the difference in getting noticed by the World Youth Day committee," says Dave. "We were also quite persistent. Every time I saw a name associated with World Youth Day, I sent them a press kit. By the time we actually met with them, I think they had 5 copies of everything!"

The song that was chosen for the WYD 2002 CD is called "Share it with the World". It was a beautiful song written by the Devine brothers and Eric Kubica while they were on retreat. The words of the song are very appropriate for the event. "Ironically," says Dave, "it is probably the most mellow song that we have written. Most of our songs are pretty high-energy, modern rock compositions. It is a great honor to have this song chosen."

Dave Wang hopes that Critical Mass's song on Light Of The World/Lumihre Du Monde or the performance at World Youth Day will inspire today's youth. "In these days of insecurity and fears, we want to encourage the youth to turn to Christ and His Church for comfort. Society tells them that to be religious is to be weak and simple-minded. However, for a Catholic youth to stand up against this pressure shows true strength and character. We want to remind the youth about the realities of the Mass, that Jesus is truly there, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. We want to encourage the youth to go to Confession, where they will receive true peace. We want to encourage devotions to our Blessed Mother. Finally, we want to challenge the youth to be uncompromising and to strive for holiness and chastity.

There is a great number of Catholics who are only going through the motions. We believe that the youth can play a huge role in revitalizing the Church and we believe the best way to do this is to hold fast to the Magisterium of the Church and to use that as a launching point to change the world." " We are also excited about the possibility of a spiritual renewal in Canada. Wherever the World Youth Days have taken place, it seems that the youth are returning to the Church and there has been an increase in vocations."

Critical Mass is currently writing songs for two albums. One will be an album of music for Mass, which will include sheet music. They are also writing songs that will be another studio effort, like their recent album " Completely". They are all members of the Catholic Associations of Musicians, but one member will be joining a more sanctified group this year, as Tim Devine will be ordained a priest.