Garret McCall joined over four thousand people in the Eucharistic Procession through the streets of New York City. He captured this stunning video to share the experience with all of us. We sat down to ask him what was going on behind the scenes during this momentous occasion.
Garret: I was a little bit nervous because I was looking at the news and they had all these protests in Times Square and that’s where we were going to be marching. I thought, “I don’t know if I should go.” I really wanted to go, but I was also nervous to film by myself.
I ended up just going, and my mom went with me. It was definitely worth it. It’s another sign to just put your trust in Jesus because everything is fine when you do that.
I was nervous to film by myself because it was such a big event and I knew the more people that were able to film, we could get better footage and cover more ground. I was very worried about that especially because I wasn’t allowed up on the altar, I didn’t have permission to do any of that, so I was already limited with what I could film, but once we got out on the streets, I could film whatever I wanted.
Right after Communion, I immediately went to the back of the church. I went outside and I waited because I knew if I didn’t go out then, I was going to get stuck and then I wouldn’t be able to get any footage.
I was like, “Okay, Jesus. Let’s do this. If You want me to make a little clip or if You want me to put something together for You, lead the way, like how You’re literally leading the way through the procession.”
Once we got out on the streets, it was beautiful, and it was fun. I wish the procession would have kept going because I was enjoying it so much.
Just seeing the reaction of people in the streets, how it was effecting people that believe that weren’t participating in it. People were stopping and kneeling and genuflecting and making the sign of the cross. Then you had other people just pulling out their phones and recording or standing there and looking like, “What is this?” They were so confused.
It was cool because I was up front and I had a camera and I had equipment. People knew that I knew what was going on so they were tapping me on the shoulder saying, “Hey, what is this? What’s going on?”
It was beautiful to be able in that moment to be like, “This is a Eucharistic Procession. As Catholics, we believe this is Jesus.”
They were kind of like, “Oh,” taken back a little.
You had to say it in a way that wasn’t like you were crazy, but it’s the truth. That’s what we believe. It’s Jesus. It’s a hard question to answer for somebody, but at the same time, you just say, “This is what we believe,” and then they can see thousands of people behind them, and be like, “Wow, okay. Maybe this is real.” Maybe they would just stop and think. Maybe it would plant a seed. Then, whenever a seed is planted, that’s when the Holy Spirit can do Its work.
My mom actually had the poster I had made that you saw in the subway. It said, “I am the bread of life.” My brother and I designed it, and then I got it printed the day before the procession. She took it and was just holding it during the procession. She said, “I wish I would have had it on a stick to raise it higher because it helped to show people that didn’t know what was going on.” A lot of people were asking her and they loved the sign.
The procession was about an hour. They had to close these streets for this to happen. There were helicopters up in the air to scan the streets. They had the police block off all the streets, and they had two motorcycles leading the whole procession.
One thing I wasn’t able to capture were the people that were actually up in the skyscrapers looking out through the windows and a lot of people that were in the shops that were coming out of the doors to see what was going on.
More people said in the back of the procession, they saw people in the streets literally crying. I didn’t see any of that just because I was in the hustle and bustle right in the beginning of everything and trying to keep up and not get stuck in the crowd. It was an adrenaline rush to keep moving.
They were singing. All the nuns and the choir, they were all singing. In the church they had stuff on the pews that you could scan, like a barcode, with your phone. It would open up all the songs that they were going to be singing for the procession so people could follow along. They had loudspeakers kind of like they do in Medjugorje so people knew what they were singing and what was being said.
Then, at the end of the procession, everyone was back at the church, and they were doing Benediction. I was walking along the side, and I felt somebody tap me. I looked, and we both made eye contact. I had to do a double take. She was like, “Hey!”
It was Jill from the movie Apparition Hill. It was a complete shock. Out of all those thousands of people, the only one I thought I was going to know there was my mom who I came with. To see somebody else that I knew there and that had a connection to Medjugorje was really cool.
Cimela: What do you think about the response to the video?
Garret: A lot of people were saying that they could feel the Holy Spirit through that video which is crazy because whenever I was putting it together, I was praying a lot. I was praying beforehand too. I was just saying, “God, this is for You. All glory for You so however it can touch people, let it touch people.”
A lot of people see the video and they realize as Catholics, “Oh, that is Jesus in the Eucharist,” but other people, maybe they don’t see Him, they just see us walking with bread, but it really is Him. Even if they don’t realize it, they are seeing Jesus. If the Holy Spirit can move through that video somehow to touch them, then that’s amazing.
It’s been really cool to see the impact so far that the video has had and how many people it’s touched.
Fr. Mike’s homily was so good and so powerful. Even what the bishop said after at the end of Mass, it was very powerful too. I highly recommend people listen it. Fr. Mike Schmitz said a really powerful thing right before Communion about all of Christianity coming together again and being at the same altar. Anybody can go see that. It’s on YouTube here: