Musician Matt Maher performs during “Adore 2097” held
last Saturday at Corpus Christi School in Falls Church. (GRETCHEN
R. CROWE | CATHOLIC HERALD)
Saturday night began like any other rock concert. Lights flashed, bass guitar
hummed through giant speakers and crowds of teens screamed when the headliner
took the stage.
But the event at Corpus Christi School, adjacent to St. Anthony of Padua Church
in Falls Church, wasn’t any other rock concert. It was “Adore 2097” — part
praise and worship jam session, part mini-retreat — that had participants
jumping up and down one minute and on their knees in prayer the next.
Headlining “Adore 2097” — the number is a reference to a section
of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which says, in part, “to
adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself” — was
Matt Maher, singer, songwriter and worship leader. He was joined by musicians
Kelly Pease and Josh Blakesley for the worship group’s eight-gig April
tour. Sponsored in part by Catholic Relief Services, last weekend’s concert
was free of charge in honor of the pope’s trip to Washington.
“We’ve been praying specifically for this area, knowing the pope
was coming,” said Paul George, executive director and founder of the Louisiana-based
Adore Ministries. “God didn’t bring us here just to play on stage,
but for a purpose.”
That purpose, Maher said, was to “prepare hearts” for the papal visit.
“We felt in our hearts that we wanted to be a part of it,” he said. “It
isn’t just an event. (The pope) is bringing Christ in a unique way to this
nation, and we wanted to try to help in any way we can.”
Praise and worship music book-ended the event — from a reflective “Holy
God, We Praise Thy Name” to a “When the Saints Go Marching In” jam — and
it culminated in the middle with a talk by George and adoration before the Blessed
Sacrament.
While occasions like these aren’t for everyone — there’s enough
arm swaying and cries to Jesus to satisfy even the most fervent fan — there’s
no denying that Maher and company know how to get a group of people revved up.
“Now’s the time to bust it out for God,” Maher said. “We’re
going to have a little party for Jesus.”
And most did.
Participants of all ages, from youths to young adults to adults, followed lyrics
projected on a screen behind the stage, clapped their hands and praised God in
song. Then, almost indiscernibly, the tone of the evening changed as young and
old prepared for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. At the invitation of
Maher, all gathered faithful sang and prayed together in the dark, an opportunity
to declare their love for God in an “audience of one,” he said.
“God wants to shower His love upon us tonight,” said George during
his brief remarks that preceded adoration. “Tonight as a community we have
prayer together before the Blessed Sacrament and we look to Jesus for freedom.”
Kevin Bohli, director of the Office of Youth Ministry that helped coordinate
the event, said that since people can get so caught up in the idea of the pope
as a celebrity, the concert was a “great way to kick off this week with
the papal visit.”
“It was absolutely awesome,” added Gino Rossi, a seminarian at the
Theological College in Washington. “It was great to especially have youth
fired up about the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.”
Youth Apostle Father David Sharland, campus minister at Marymount University
in Arlington, also helped coordinate the event. Father Sharland said he was “very
moved by the depth of the worship.
“This night of prayer reminds us of how we can even more richly celebrate
our Catholic faith,” he said, as crowds piled out of the gym and clamored
for Maher’s autograph. “There’s definitely a spirit that has
filled the air tonight as people are coming out alive in faith again.”
Gretchen R. Crowe can be reached at gcrowe@catholicherald.com.
On the Web
adoreworship.com
