Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, who plays the role of Jesus in the fan-supported television series THE CHOSEN, warned thousands of young pro-life activists Friday that while “God is real,” so “Satan is also real.”
“And I’m not talking about the simplistic cartoon of some dude with horns and a tail,” Roumie said during his address at the March for Life rally. “I’m talking about the father of lies, the Great Deceiver, the diabolical slanderer, who pushes you to doubt when you know in your heart the right thing to do.”
Roumie explained the reality of Satan’s existence and his persistence in the current-day culture:
He is not about to give up this fight either. In fact, he’s doubling down because guess what, his time is limited. So, he’s throwing everything that he has at the world and all of us in it. And countless are being deceived as a result. But that’s his job. He wants your and my destruction. He wants us to believe that abortion does not harm us individually and as a society. So please, I beg of you, pray for those who do not have the faith, the strength, the clarity of purpose that you here do.
In his own life, Roumie said he tries to emulate Jesus by “praying for those who persecute me, and those who may protest me.”
The actor reminded the crowd, however, that, despite the presence of Satan in the real world, Christians need to remember that “we know how the story ends: God won.”
"You have chosen to journey to our nation's capital today not only to mourn the lives lost to abortion, but also to champion those lives yet to be born."
–@JonathanRoumie#WhyWeMarch #MarchForLife— March for Life (@March_for_Life) January 20, 2023
“He won and Christ reminds us that he is with us until the end of the age and, that said, we need to take a quick glance into the mirror of culture,” he continued, speaking directly then to young people of “Gen Z and Gen Alpha”:
You are in your formative years. And that a moment in time when you have the power to change culture by impacting the culture, through the raising of your powerful voices, and voting with your conscience and your resources. For some time now we have been witnesses to a mounting polarity between light and dark. We’ve seen it manifest itself in many facets of culture. But I would like to address it, as I see it as an artist in the entertainment industry. In the last several years, there’s been a sharp and disturbing increase in the darkness of the imagery being used in film, television and music. The landscape has become increasingly sinister and in some cases, even demonic in tone, more so than in previous years. Sometimes subliminal. Oftentimes, overt storylines involving the occult, witchcraft, demons and even satanic elements are commonplace in mainstream programming. Many feature spiritually and psychologically disturbing content.
Roumie particularly warned young people about “social media sites rife with images of hypersexuality,” that encourage young women to “objectify” themselves.
“Do not let mainstream media’s shallow depictions of sexuality and sexual irresponsibility deceive you into thinking that such an approach to love and relationships is without consequences,” he warned. “It isn’t.”
Nevertheless, Roumie declared he rejects the notion that we live in a “post-Christian society,” and invited his listeners to do the same.
“Change the culture by impacting the culture,” he urged. “Embrace that which is bigger than you: He who gave you abundant life and he who has called you by name. Do not be afraid. Mute the noise of the popular and embrace the counterculture of Christ’s love and the message he offers you.”
"True love gives way to life, not death."
–@JonathanRoumie#WhyWeMarch #MarchForLife— March for Life (@March_for_Life) January 20, 2023
Regarding the pro-life movement, Roumie said believers are enduring an “attack on the family structure and the sacredness of the gift of life.”
The pro-life community, he said, is called to be the “standard bearers, who defend and preserve the dignity of every human, but especially the most vulnerable, which begins with the initial stages of life and continues throughout the entire cycle” from conception to natural death.
The actor suggested ways young people can “make a difference” in the culture.
The crowd cheered Roumie when he first urged his listeners to follow in the steps of Padre Pio and “pray the rosary.” He lifted up his arm to reveal his own rosary wrapped around his wrist.
“Secondly, examine and expose the areas of darkness in your world, in your community, in your immediate society, that need your light, and bring it everywhere you go,” he advised. “Change the culture by impacting the culture. Raise your voice, vote with your resources – financial, spiritual and temporal.”
“By honoring the life that God gave you by bringing your gifts to the world with love and compassion, you will be creating an environment of holiness which the most impressionable in our society will draw their examples from and to help rewire the attitudes of society’s collective consciousness, steering it back towards the preservation and value of life,” Roumie said.
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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jonathan Roumie” by EWTN.
