• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
This is a scene from the new documentary "Alive," which tells the stories of five people changed by their encounter with the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist during Holy Hour. The film, made in Spain by Bosco and Hakuna Films, opens across the U.S. for one night only April 25, 2022. (CNS photo/courtesy Bosco Films)

Priest: Film on lives changed by Holy Hour will move viewers ‘to action’

April 20, 2022
By Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Feature, Movie & Television Reviews

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

NEW YORK (CNS) — “Alive,” a new documentary made in Spain by Bosco and Hakuna Films, tells the stories of five people changed by their encounter with the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist during Holy Hour.

Its viewers “will be moved to action,” a Catholic priest said in a commentary about the film.

“Alive” will open across the United States for one night only April 25, the Monday after Divine Mercy Sunday. The Spanish film with English subtitles is being released by Fathom Events, and a schedule of theaters can be found online at https://www.fathomevents.com/events/Alive-Who-Is-There.

“Alive,” unveiled in a New York premiere in early April, introduces viewers to a former atheist, an average Catholic and other young people.

“Each person faced the challenges of life and once they discovered the weekly Holy Hour, it changed their lives forever,” said Father Edward Looney, a pastor in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, who is involved in Catholic media.

His commentary on “Alive” was released by Fathom, which is the 11th largest distributor of content to movie theaters in North America.

Last December, Father Looney created a 10-part series of short videos related to a special Christmas episode released in theaters by the creators of the show “The Chosen,” a streaming series on the life of Jesus and the Gospel stories. The special episode’s release also was by Fathom Events.

Each individual profiled in “Alive” approached the Holy Hour differently, Father Looney said. “But in that time of prayer, they all found something for which they were looking. In that time of prayer they encountered silence and peace. They were afforded an opportunity to ask God, present on the altar, the difficult questions they were facing.

“They could ask God, ‘Are you there?’ And with the gaze of love which emanated from the monstrance, they knew he was,” he continued. “A Holy Hour is a place where we can turn over to the Lord all our stress, discomforts and worries, in the hope that he will take them away.

“Praying before the Lord, we can recharge our troubled spirits and find grace to continue.”

Father Looney is pastor of St. Francis and St. Mary Parish in Brussels, Wisc., and pastor of St. Peter and St. Hubert Parish, which has locations in Lincoln and Rosiere, Wisc.

“Alive” is “one of those movies that when you see it, you will be moved to action,” he said. “When you leave the theater, you might want to find a church on the way home so you can spend an hour in prayer or discover where you could join a Holy Hour in your area in the upcoming week or month.”

Father Looney said the film “is like a preseason warm-up for us to revive our eucharistic faith and devotion” before the feast of Corpus Christi June 19, which as he noted is the kickoff of the U.S. Catholic Church’s three-year National Eucharistic Revival, which culminates with the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in 2024.

During the revival, there will be parish, diocesan and regional events to increase Catholics’ understanding of the Real Presence in the Eucharist.

The U.S. bishops approved plans for the revival and the congress last November during their fall general assembly in Baltimore. Both are being spearheaded by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, chaired by Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn.


Editor’s Note: More about the U.S. Catholic Church’s National Eucharistic Revival and National Eucharistic Congress can be found at https://eucharisticrevival.org.

Read More Movies & Television

Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Movie Review: ‘How to Train Your Dragon’

Movie Review: ‘The Ritual’

Inspired by millennial soon-to-be-saint, Irish teens created animated Lego-Carlo Acutis film

‘The Ritual’ seeks to portray exorcism respectfully

Movie Review: ‘Final Destination Bloodlines’

Copyright © 2022 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Catholic News Service

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Religious sisters played role in pope’s formation in grade school, N.J. province discovers

  • With an Augustinian in chair of St. Peter, order sees growing interest in vocations

  • Hundreds gather at Rebuilt Conference 2025 to ‘imagine what’s possible’ in parish ministry

  • Communicate hope with gentleness

  • ‘The Ritual’ seeks to portray exorcism respectfully

| CURRENT EDITION |

| Vatican News |

Vatican bank reports increased profits, charitable giving

UN secretary-general meets Pope Leo, top Vatican officials

Call out to Jesus for healing; he will hear you, pope says

Papal diplomats must always defend poor, religious freedom, pope says

Pope Leo’s core identity is Augustinian, say religious

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

| Movie & Television Reviews |

Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Movie Review: ‘How to Train Your Dragon’

Movie Review: ‘The Ritual’

Inspired by millennial soon-to-be-saint, Irish teens created animated Lego-Carlo Acutis film

‘The Ritual’ seeks to portray exorcism respectfully

| En español |

‘No tengan miedo de hacer lo que El Señor quiere para nosotros’

Dios quiere ayudar a las personas a descubrir su valor y dignidad, dice el Papa

El ‘Padre Migrante’ nos relata su vida sirviendo a comunidades inmigrantes

El ‘Obispo Bruce’ forjó fuertes lazos con Baltimore en tiempos difíciles y tenía corazón de pastor

El Papa León comienza su pontificado pidiendo una ‘Iglesia unida’ en un mundo herido

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Prayers continue for release of abducted Nigerian priest who recently served in Alaska
  • Kyiv’s historic cathedral damaged in Russian air strikes
  • Vatican bank reports increased profits, charitable giving
  • UN secretary-general meets Pope Leo, top Vatican officials
  • Call out to Jesus for healing; he will hear you, pope says
  • Movie Review: ‘How to Train Your Dragon’
  • Yes, it’s our war, too
  • OLPH’s fourth eucharistic procession, set for June 21, ‘speaks to the heart’
  • Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en