"God wants to be with us, and He's always wanted to be with us. Adoration is not some sort of recent development or a new devotional practice that's sprung up lately, or just for super Catholics or something like that. No, this is God's plan from the beginning." -- writer/director Donald J. Johnson
Johnson is behind the new film Adore Him: He Is Here, from from the producers of Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist. Adore Him is in theaters from Oct. 4 to Oct. 8 as a Fathom Event.
What Is Adore Him: He Is Here All About?
The official synopsis:
ADORE HIM is a new docudrama that invites you to enter the very presence of God. Through
cinematic reenactments that span Salvation history and intimate modern-day interviews from
around the world, this film explores the transforming power of meeting the Creator of the
Universe face to face.ADORE HIM is the sequel to the Gabriel Award-winning Jesus Thirsts: The
Miracle of the Eucharist. From encountering the Ark of the Covenant as it traveled across the
wilderness to bumping into Jesus as he taught in the marketplace, this story builds to a
culmination in the Eucharist, and today millions are finding out how much God truly loves them
as they adore Him in the Blessed Sacrament. He is here. Will you come?
Donald J. Johnson is the writer/producer; executive producer is Deacon Steve Greco of Spirit Filled Hearts Ministry.
Among those appearing in the film are Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez; Chris Stefanik of Real Life Catholic; Curtis Martin of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students); Kathleen Beckman of the Foundation of Prayer for Priests: Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., of the Magis Center; Mark Hart of Life Teen International; Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers; Father Donald Calloway, M.I.C.; and Rosemarie Hollister Costello, a relative of recently beatified Blessed Fulton Sheen.
Take a look:
Hitting the Red Carpet for Adore Him: He Is Here
In September, Adore Him had a screening at the Freed Theater on the Christ Cathedral Campus in Garden Grove, California. On the red carpet were producers, backers, supporters, and people featured in the film.
I was on hand to chat with those present, and here's a sampling of what they had to say.
Kathleen Beckman on misconceptions about Eucharistic Adoration:
I think the biggest misconception and maybe temptation is that Jesus isn't really there, that He's not interested in actually staying with us, and that we might be wasting our time to actually sit before the Blessed Sacrament.
Of course that is completely false and quite the opposite. Jesus is truly present. He is truly interested and He is there, and He remains with us because He loves us, and He knows that we need Him, and He remains with us in the Blessed Sacrament.
Luis A. Chavez, Director of Parish Evangelization and Faith Formation in the Diocese of Orange, on the challenge to men to try Adoration:
One of the best ways to engage men in Adoration is actually inviting them to use Scripture in Adoration. I think a lot of male spirituality really fosters when we're talking about men being summoned to the call of duty.
When we're going to Adoration, there's an opportunity for us to show up. I think there's something that appeals to masculine spirituality about showing up and being there to do your duty, which is being there with Christ. You are, in many ways, manning a spiritual front. You're interceding. You're interceding for souls. You are also nourishing yourself. It's an opportunity to do all of those things.
So I think for a young man or any man in his life who's looking to find an opportunity to go to Adoration, I'd like to invite them to think about it as an opportunity for them to show up for Christ, for this spiritual battle that's in front of us, to be nourished, but also to see how God is calling you, how God is asking you to serve Him. You could hear that a lot more clearly in Adoration because Christ is in front of you.
On that same topic, from Andrew Niewald of the Adoratio Foundation:
Our research shows that about 65% of people who do adoration are women. For most men, we just struggle with that. We think we have to be productive. So for a man to just sit in silence, he has to confront his own identity. That's why a lot of men struggle with that. They have a hard time relating to who Christ is, not because it's hard to do it's just harder for them to do it themselves.
Father Larry Gosselin, O.F.M., a Franciscan friar of the Province of Saint Barbara, on the power of presence:
Words are important. We need words, but sometimes just presence is important. That's what Adoration does. It brings us into presence.
In adoration, there are no words that need to be spoken. Really, I mean, we can pray words, but in essence, it's sitting before the Lord in quiet and letting the Lord speak to us in the quiet.
As St. John of the Cross says, "The Lord spoke one word to the world, and He spoke it in eternal silence." The one word was Jesus, the Word becoming flesh, and it was spoken in silence. So, to be entered into silence is a way of filling ourselves with the presence of the Lord, and preaching.
Philanthropist Oscar Delgado, who funds and supports the building of Adoration chapels, on what a chapel of this type needs:
Well, it needs the predisposition. First of all, the pastor pushing that people come to Adoration, and an understanding that when you go to Adoration, you're surrendering.
People want to control everything, but at the end of the day, if you have Christ in front of you and know that there's Jesus, I'm going to surrender to Him, and He's going to help me, then you're in good shape
But I think the first thing that you say, more than the monstrance and more than anything else, is to have a predisposition of the heart to be able to say, "OK, I'm going to surrender and I want you to take care of what I need. I need help."
I think that's what we've done in a society. Human initiative is everything, and not supernatural initiative. That's where I think that things have gone downhill because we can't control things.
Jesus controls things.
Click here for information and tickets.
Image: Fathom Entertainment
Kate O’Hare, a longtime entertainment journalist, is Social Media Content Manager and Blog Editor at Family Theater Productions.
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