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| Image Credit: Brianna DeNoble, @iamhisartist, used with permission. |
I'm not one for Hollywood gossip or being a 'fangirl' over a particular actor or artist, but lately I've been fascinated with watching up and coming California actor Johnathan Roumie on social media.
While his acting portfolio is pretty diverse (he guest starred as the villain on NCIS: Los Angeles once, voiced three different characters in the video game Fallout 4, and has had small rolls on shows like Chicago MD), his current most well known role is that of Jesus in the Vid Angel distributed show The Chosen, a show directed by well-known Evangelical Christian director Dallas Jenkins. Because of this, he has a very strong, devoted fan base of Evangelical, Protestant Christians.
In the wake of the Covid-19 lockdowns he started hosting livestreamed "prayer hours" on his professional Facebook account (since moved to his Instagram account). He started leading the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3pm daily, along with the mass readings for the day-- as a Catholic, for a group comprised mainly, at that time, of Evangelical Christians.
I've found time to watch a couple of these livestreams (after the fact, because 3pm California time happens to be 5pm something my time and I'm usually trying to put dinner on the table...sadly that's become harder to do since he moved to Instagram since the videos don't stay up for very long), and they're very, very simple. Johnathan doesn't claim to be any sort of pastor or religious authority-- he doesn't give a homily, and if he offers any reflection, it's usually from a book he found inspiring. All he does is turn on a camera, say hi, and then pray.
It all fascinates me, because this is the first time I've ever seen an ecumenical prayer group, a very successful prayer group at that, centered on this particular devotion. Heck, I think it's the first time I've ever seen an ecumenical prayer group led by a Catholic online. I love the fact that he's humble about it-- at no point does he preach or try to proselytize, though occasionally he might share why a certain prayer is meaningful to him or a personal experience he's had. He explains his choice of using primarily Catholic prayers as, "This is what I'm familiar with and comfortable with since I'm Catholic," asks people to have an open mind, and leaves it at that.
As a result of what he's doing, simply turning on a camera and praying, dozens, if not hundreds, of people who had never heard of the Divine Mercy Devotion are hearing it for the first time-- and are receptive to it. Back when these live streams were still on Facebook, the comment section below it would have several comments from people saying that they really loved the prayer, and asking where they could get a rosary, or asking if it was okay if they made their own. There was the odd comment trying to proselytize or pick a fight (because, you know, internet), but overall it was a fairly positive, uplifting corner of social media, kind of a rarity in our time.
While his acting portfolio is pretty diverse (he guest starred as the villain on NCIS: Los Angeles once, voiced three different characters in the video game Fallout 4, and has had small rolls on shows like Chicago MD), his current most well known role is that of Jesus in the Vid Angel distributed show The Chosen, a show directed by well-known Evangelical Christian director Dallas Jenkins. Because of this, he has a very strong, devoted fan base of Evangelical, Protestant Christians.
In the wake of the Covid-19 lockdowns he started hosting livestreamed "prayer hours" on his professional Facebook account (since moved to his Instagram account). He started leading the Divine Mercy Chaplet at 3pm daily, along with the mass readings for the day-- as a Catholic, for a group comprised mainly, at that time, of Evangelical Christians.
I've found time to watch a couple of these livestreams (after the fact, because 3pm California time happens to be 5pm something my time and I'm usually trying to put dinner on the table...sadly that's become harder to do since he moved to Instagram since the videos don't stay up for very long), and they're very, very simple. Johnathan doesn't claim to be any sort of pastor or religious authority-- he doesn't give a homily, and if he offers any reflection, it's usually from a book he found inspiring. All he does is turn on a camera, say hi, and then pray.
It all fascinates me, because this is the first time I've ever seen an ecumenical prayer group, a very successful prayer group at that, centered on this particular devotion. Heck, I think it's the first time I've ever seen an ecumenical prayer group led by a Catholic online. I love the fact that he's humble about it-- at no point does he preach or try to proselytize, though occasionally he might share why a certain prayer is meaningful to him or a personal experience he's had. He explains his choice of using primarily Catholic prayers as, "This is what I'm familiar with and comfortable with since I'm Catholic," asks people to have an open mind, and leaves it at that.
As a result of what he's doing, simply turning on a camera and praying, dozens, if not hundreds, of people who had never heard of the Divine Mercy Devotion are hearing it for the first time-- and are receptive to it. Back when these live streams were still on Facebook, the comment section below it would have several comments from people saying that they really loved the prayer, and asking where they could get a rosary, or asking if it was okay if they made their own. There was the odd comment trying to proselytize or pick a fight (because, you know, internet), but overall it was a fairly positive, uplifting corner of social media, kind of a rarity in our time.
So if you're browsing social media, his channels might be worth a quick look. It's one of the simplest, yet most moving, prayer or 'ministry' outreaches that I think I've ever seen.
Edit: Johnathan has also started praying a nightly rosary here for the month of May at 6:30 Pacific time. Which, oddly enough, a large amount of Evangelical Christians are also joining him for, which dumbfounds me even more than the Chaplet does.
Jonathan is a Godsend. I pray for him to remain strong and I thank God for his faith.
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