The Lord loves to strongly support those who fully trust Him - Abbey Fest 2021 - Jonathan Roumie

[Applause] hello jonathan we are so happy to have you here at abby fest hello abby fest and there goes my first mistake you guys having a good time today how about we are messengers huh oh my gosh and all the bands that played earlier i don't know all their names and then we got matt mark coming up in a little bit and i think archbishop was a pretty much a rock star today too wasn't he absolutely so glad to be here thank you guys jonathan uh for those in our audience who are meeting you for the first time would you please tell us a little bit about your background like where you were from and how you decided that you wanted to become an actor sure well i never had any um plans to be an actor but that's how god works isn't it you think you make one set of plans and he's like nice try this is what i got planned for you so i'm from new york originally anybody from new york i grew up in the city in the suburbs of new york i was an artist growing up i was a musician i'm also i'm a drummer as well and uh i went to film school and i worked for many years behind the scenes until one day i started uh getting the opportunity to do some voice over work like animation work doing voices for cartoons and stuff and that sort of set me on my journey to uh the path of an actor and then a few years later i moved out to la and after eight years of serious struggling um i booked the chosen so that's how i got here and now i'm sitting here god is uh god is so good he's amazing that's uh i mean that's that's beautiful you know how how things come together in life at the time when it's supposed to happen you know for us and and the lord kind of has that plan unbeknownst to us sometimes in in such beautiful ways um jonathan i'm you know we're blessed abby fess to have a lot of young people that are here with us today and and um and you know you know when you when you think of our young people what's something that you'd want to talk to them about and that that could help them like in their journey of life and kind of seeking out what god desires for them you know it's pretty tough to be a young person right now in the culture but you guys are here so give yourselves a round of applause for being bold and i think it's really important that you remain bold in your faith because that's the example that jesus gave him it got him crucified but that was the price that god paid on behalf of us right so being bold in your faith doesn't mean you have to go around telling people they're wrong or that they don't know what they're talking about being bold means just standing up for your beliefs but you also have to be humble you got to have humility even when there are people telling you things that you don't want to hear even if they disagree with you so we have to learn to be bold while being humble and with every encounter that you have especially with people let's say you don't agree with or people that you you don't understand even you got to lead every encounter with love you've got to see christ in their face you've got to meet jesus and everyone you meet especially the people that you don't get along with and that's going to happen your entire lives as you get older as you get older you'll have people that you just relationships that come and go people you disagree with doesn't mean they're bad people doesn't mean you're a bad person it just means you've got different ideas but stay true to your faith be bold be humble and lead with love that's what i'd say wow that's so powerful and i mean how many of us just really needed to hear that there's a little prayer that always comes to mind with regards to that subject of humility and as you can imagine imagine being an actor there are many opportunities to inflate your own ego but if you just follow christ's example if you really follow him and be imitators of christ he pretty much gives you the blueprint for prevent for preventing that from happening and there's a quick little prayer that i like and i say every so often to myself oh jesus meek and humble of heart make my heart like unto thine in other words make my heart like yours oh jesus meek and humble of heart make my heart like unto thine so you thank you you know we you're talking about leading in love speaking of someone who is leading us in love last month you had the opportunity to meet pope francis please tell us about that you know how did like what led up to that and what ex what experience was that what was it like man pope francis is just the coolest he's like it was uh for me it was a a childhood dream realized you know when i was a lot of the age of most of the folks here in the front rows you guys rock by the way and uh when i was your age i had always wanted to go to world youth day you know it was like the pope million people million other kids my age in another city some other place in the world i had no idea how to get there my parents were immigrants they're like i don't know ask someone at church we don't know like okay i guess that's not happening so i've always wanted to meet the pope and i never got to meet one of my heroes saint john paul ii who uh who also i don't know if any of you know this yeah give it up for saint john paul a second did you guys know he was also an actor oh my gosh you knew him you know more than i did when i was your head it's like you know he's a pope what do you mean he's like here's the phone look at him he's the pope so um yeah i i always wanted to meet him very very specifically and then as i got older the closest i got when i was living in new york city was seeing pope benedict whiz buying a pokemobile i was like oh there he is and he's gone and so um once we we did the first season of the chosen i said to dallas jenkins the creator of the show i said i'm gonna get this show in front of the pope and he's like in front of the pope i said yeah what do you think of that good luck i said and then about a year two years ago i was being interviewed by a journalist for uh i think it was national catholic register and uh yeah give it up and um i told her this in the interview and she said you you want the book to see the show i said yeah i think he'd think he'd like it i think he'd dig it she's like huh okay let me see what i can do i said what she's like let me see what i can do like okay and then a year later she's like so i've been talking to the vatican about the you meeting the pope said get out of here come on she said no i they're interested i said look god willing god willing it's you know i'm i let him lead my life at this point anything that i think that i want to do i'm just whatever you think i should do lord not what i want but what you want and then [Music] about eight months ago she says to me so it's gonna happen this summer i said you're kidding me she said no you're gonna have a semi-private audience with pope francis and i said okay you know i'm like in my mind i'm like okay sure i i believe it when i see it but she's like you need to get some letters of recommendation from like some of the famous bishops you know like bishop baron you guys know bishop baron bishop baron's a rock star uh and so i did i got a couple of letters they sent it out and then i think it was in june they gave me the audience for august 11th and then we met him and it was amazing and he was funny at one point dallas and i were we're standing there and dallas is telling him he's the creator of the show about jesus that i'm in after i had introduced myself to the pope and um pope says to looking straight at dallas he's like so he's jesus he said yeah and you're judas he said yeah no no no no no no not judas not judas so uh and that would really tickle dallas he just he really had a great experience meeting meeting him and didn't expect him to be so witty and warm and and he's he's everything you think he'd be he's he's pastoral you know so that's amazing that's amazing and and what a gift right what a grace to be able to have that and also you know just that opportunity to bring the chosen to the world as well i mean and to get the word out about such a wonderful show and jonathan i know that in my family the chosen has been a a really special thing we have gathered around to watch the uh watch the episodes and we can't wait till you know dallas drops the next one and it's just you know and and and the stories have impacted us in such deep ways and i know that um you know that there have probably been certain moments and episodes you know that you've you've been in and the chosen that have been you know possibly very pivotal to you or or have made a deep impact on you in your own life and can you share a little bit about you know some of those moments uh playing the role yeah there were so many i mean i loved the show as a spectator and to be a part of is just it's mind-blowing i still i thank god every day that i get to do what i do for a living and uh and and that's that's proof of letting him direct you that's proof of surrendering which i think we'll get into in a minute what it means to truly surrender your life to god and uh so i it's hard for me to pick when i get that question i i there's so many moments i think my favorite probably just has to be because it's the entrance is the end of episode one and season one where jesus enters and meets mary magdalene in the tavern and goes after her and heals her of her demons so yeah i i would agree with that i mean that that episode with just to see the transformation in mary magdalene's life um it's incredible and i know for me personally the the other character that impacts me a lot is nicodemus and and how he just over time just you build this relationship with him and he he gets to know you know really who you are and what you're about and and how his heart has been longing for that and i think i think that's really one of the geniuses of the chosen is that it speaks to all of us at different places we are in our journey and in our walk and and in so many ways i find myself identifying with so many of the characters at different times it's a beautiful a beautiful thing about thank you thank you well i would love to go back to that that surrender that you were talking about clearly you have worked in the music industry not music in the entertainment industry for a while music not a whole lot of music but a little bit yeah you did say that earlier [Laughter] yeah the success that you've experienced with the chosen um came after a pivotal moment in your life something that you've called this a surrender moment can you please walk us through that experience and how you believe that god led you to that place sure anybody here ever had a bad day you ever had a bad week well i had a bad eight years i had a bad eight years i had a for eight years after i got to los angeles i struggled man i struggled i had a few different jobs couple of gigs on different television shows uh you can look it up and be like oh i might have seen that you know and uh and i made a little bit of money but then i always had to have like a side job some sort of side hustle to keep it going and i never got to the point where i could just work consistently and as an actor that's the only thing that you ever want is to just keep working because it's what you love to do you know i i did a number of jobs in the business in the film industry that weren't i wasn't i wasn't passionate about and i had these gifts and these skills that god gave me that i just really wasn't using to the fullest and then when i was trying for several years in los angeles and it just wasn't happening you still got to pay your bills right even when you're not working and even when you're not working those side jobs there was a point where i was juggling three different catering companies i was driving ride share you know i was i was teaching i was doing all these different things but it was all piecemeal uh i got to the point where i woke up one morning on a saturday in may this is three years ago mind you three years ago and i was a hundred dollars overdrafted in my checking account i had twenty dollars in my pocket i had a month's worth of bills ahead of me i couldn't get arrested for those catering jobs i had no money coming in and i was spiritually broken i was done so i did the first thing that any practicing catholic does i got on my knees and prayed to the crucifix on my wall and in tears i just started praying out of desperation i said you know what god for years i've been asking you to show me something else if this is what i if this is not what i should be doing if i should not be an actor show me something else because this is really hard allow me to provide for myself in another way and for years i've got no other responses there's nothing else that's come into my life and made me think this is what i should be this is what god wants me to do nothing you know you always hear that phrase the lord helps those who help themselves welcome to find out that's not actually in the bible the lord helps those who are helpless in fact and indeed i said jesus you said come to me all who are weary and heavy laden for your my yoke is easy and my burden is light i will give you rest i said fine take some of mine because i'm tired man i'm tired and i got nothing to show for my life which was a lie but that's how i felt so i said lord from this point you want me to go forward doing what i'm doing you got to take the reins man you take the reins because i surrender i surrender [Applause] and at that moment i felt a weight lift off of me because i know even though i didn't know how i was going to pay my bill bills for next month i don't know how i by the way i had enough food for the for that day when i when i was on my knees on not on that day in may i had enough food for the day and that was it but once i surrendered and i truly truly meant it guys when i truly meant it and i let it go i was relieved i said ah it's not up to me anymore it was never up to me and now i release it to god and i say you're going to provide for me in ways that i have no clue that can be accomplished so i went about my business that morning and i came back to my apartment that day and in the mailbox were four checks paid all my bills put food on my table give it up for god and three months later well before that a week later i received another check and these are like checks from like jobs i did years ago like there's something that actors get called residuals meaning you work the job and then every couple of months you get a few bucks and sometimes it's lit i've gotten checks for one cent believe it or not the postage was more than the check so a week after that happened this miracle happened in my life and i'm like holy moly god sent me another check just to make sure i was still listening i was still committed to this surrender that was equal to the first four checks and then three months later dallas jenkins called me he said hey and i had done a few films with him the previous four years before he's like hey i think i'm doing a series you you want to put the sandals back on because i had played jesus i said yeah i'll put those talents back on when do we start he's like well we only have four episodes season one so i'll take any episodes i'll take an episode i'd never worked more than an episode in television before and so we did it we started and from that moment i've never looked back i've never second guessed god since [Applause] [Music] so jonathan really i i think that that message of surrender is so important you know to all of us in in in our life of faith and um you know could you possibly lead us in in maybe a prayer to close our time together that would uh kind of help us to surrender i would love that um in order to surrender something you're asking like how do i do that do i just say i surrender god just wait no in order to really surrender you have to come to the end of yourself what does that mean it means you have to get to a point where you know that you can't move forward in your life unless you allow god to show you the way and you cannot come to the end of yourself without humility you have to embrace humility you have to realize that we are nothing in this world compared to the grandeur and mercy and compassion of our god am i right all glory and praise and honor are due him so there's a litany that i love called the litany of humility and uh i think more people in hollywood should read this it might actually help them out i'm just going to use i got a book here that i this was sent to me this little book it's called how to be somebody you can get it on how the the guy's website he doesn't well he knows i plug this book and uh but i've never met him um and i don't get anything for plugging his book this book has been so vital to my own personal spiritual change it's called how to be somebody and you go to howtobe somebody.org you can get links to it it's five bucks and it'll change your life if you let it are we uh showing is there responses okay cool so you guys can pray along with us here if you look at the screen you'll be able to see it so i'll read the first couple of lines and then your response for the first half will be deliver me o jesus for the second half will be jesus grant me the grace to desire it and then i'm going to read a couple of closing prayers i'm going to stand for this as always let us start every prayer with the sign of the cross in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen amen oh jesus meek and humble of heart hear me from the desire of being esteemed deliver me jesus from the desire of being loved deliver me to jesus from the desire of being extolled deliberately from the desire of being honored delivering jesus from the desire of being praised deliver me jesus from the desire of being preferred to others from the desire of being consulted deliver me jesus from the desire of being approved deliver me jesus from the fear of being humiliated from the fear of being despised deliver me jesus from the fear of suffering rebukes deliver me jesus from the fear of being colombiated deliver me to jesus from the fear of being forgotten deliver me to jesus from the fear of being ridiculed deliver me jesus from the fear of being wronged deliver me jesus from the fear of being suspected deliver me jesus that others may be loved more than i jesus grant me the grace to desire and i want to really hear you on this i really want to hear you asking jesus to give you the grace to desire these things because they are counter culture my friends it's not cool to ask for these things but it's the only thing that matters because god and jesus and the holy spirit are the only things that matter in this world we are spirits we are spirits living in a material world we are flesh and body wrapped around a spirit and a soul so embrace your spiritual selves and really really extol these words that others may be esteemed more than i jesus that in the opinion of the world others may increase and i may decrease jesus grant me the grace to desire it that others may be chosen and i set aside jesus grant me the grace that others may be praised and i unnoticed jesus christ that others may be preferred to me in everything jesus grant me the grace to desire that others may become holier than i provided that i may become as holy as i should jesus grant me the grace he desires oh jesus grant me knowledge and love of my nothingness grant me the continuous memory of my sins grant me awareness of my selfishness grant me the abhorrence of all vanity grant me the pure intention of serving god jesus grant me perfect submission to the will of the father grant me a true spirit of sorrow for sin jesus grant me blind obedience to my superiors grant me holy hatred of all envy and jealousy jesus grant me promptness and forgiving offenses grant me prudence in keeping silent about others matters grant me peace and charity toward everyone jesus grant me art and desire for contempt and humiliations grant me the yearning to be treated like you and the grace of knowing how to accept it in a holy way holy mary queen mother and teacher of the humble pray for us saint joseph protector and model of the humble pray for us saint michael the archangel who was the first to bring down the arrogant pray for us all saints sanctified by the spirit of humility pray for us let us pray lord jesus christ though being god you did humble yourself even unto death and death on the cross in order to be a constant example for us to confound our pride and self-love grant us the grace to imitate your examples so that by humbling ourselves as befits our wretchedness here on earth we may be exalted and enjoy you in heaven forever amen amen oh jesus meek and humble of heart make my heart like unto the light thank you so much god bless you all good night [Music] everybody jonathan ruby

Channel: Jonathan Roumie Faith Channel

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Length: 27min 47sec (1667 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 20 2021