'Chosen' Star Jonathan Roumie Narrates 'Father Flanagan' Doc

One great side benefit of fame is drawing attention to worthy projects, and that’s what The Chosen star Jonathan Roumie is doing for Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story, hitting theaters for one night, Tuesday, Oct. 8, as a Fathom Event.

The documentary, produced by Spirit Juice Studios and co-sponsored by the Father Flanagan League, profiles Irish-born priest Father Edward J. Flanagan, the founder of Boys Town.

Who Was Father Flanagan?

As a parish priest in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1912, Father Flanagan ministered to a city devastated by a tornado. In 1915, he opened a men’s shelter for seasonal workers and homeless men without jobs. Through that work, he learned how many of them had come from abusive, broken and neglectful homes.

Deciding that he had to help such boys before they became such men, in 1921, he opened Boys Town in downtown Omaha, offering shelter and support to over 150 boys.

His mission work eventually took Father Flanagan to 31 states and 12 countries, in Asia and Europe, with more than 6,000 youth under his care during his lifetime.

In 1938, Spencer Tracy won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Father Flanagan in the film Boys Town, also starring Mickey Rooney.

Father Flanagan was named a Servant of God in 2012, the first step on the road to sainthood, a cause championed by the Father Flanagan League.

Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story was filmed on location in Ireland, Germany, Austria, Japan and the U.S.

Why Is Jonathan Roumie Involved?

In a panel discussion streamed earlier today (Oct. 5), Roumie said:

Father Flanagan lived his life by a simple principle, that we are all children of God, and it is our responsibility to care for one another.

When [I got] the opportunity to narrate, I did what I think anybody would do prior to committing to a project, with prayer and discernment. I watched the story. I basically took in the story to see if it was something that I would resonate with.

And I mean it was impossible for me to not get involved after the film. I mean the film beautifully done. It’s a beautiful portrait of this man’s life. Its ministry and his mission and the nature of his mission spoke so clearly to me.

I have a heart for children and the youth myself and the importance of raising children with the love of Christ in their life is something that just really, really affects me on a profoundly spiritual level.

And I mean, Father Flanagan’s story just made it to obvious that I had to be involved and I had to see how I could contribute to his cause.

Telling the Story of a Possible Saint

Rob Kaczmark, the founder of Spirit Juice Studios, loves to tell the stories of saints and those who might become saints.

Included with Heart of a Servant in theaters is a short film from Spirit Juice on Blessed Michael McGivney, the priest who founded the Knights of Columbus.

At the panel, Kaczmark, who’s a parent himself, said:

For me to help tell these stories of those that are on their way to hood is a great privilege, because we’re very familiar with a lot of the saints that are out there and we have devotions to. but these … often American saints, for me, is really inspiring because they’ve lived on the soil, they’ve sort of grown up how we’ve grown up, maybe a little bit earlier time, but they’ve experienced the same sort of struggles.

… And this film, you look at it and it could be a little sterile in the sense of you’re looking back in history and you don’t have the emotion there. But we know as parents there’s a lot of emotion raising kids.

And Father Flanagan experienced that, all of those emotions and to kind of bring that spirituality that he had to care for those kids to a modern approach. It’s a great privilege to be able to be here and help tell the story.

Standing Up for Truth

Take a look at the trailer for Heart of a Servant:

It begins with Father Flanagan’s words:

If you want to stand up for what you believe is right, you won’t be popular.

Regarding that, Roumie said:

It’s not always popular to share the truth with people, because sometimes the truth can be, it can be kind of divisive in a way that people then have to introspectively decide, are they living according to the truth and whose truth are they living, according to God’s truth or man’s truth?

And I think Father Flanagan lived to God’s truth. And for society at that time, it wasn’t always an easy thing to do.

Father Flanagan, Faith and Fatherhood

Roumie related how, as an actor in Hollywood, he was frequently discouraged from speaking out about his Catholic faith.

But, he didn’t listen, saying:

I had seen my life transformed by having that sense of obedience to this truth that the Holy Spirit was causing was compelling me to share with people.

So seeing that in a different way, but still essentially the truth of Father Flanagan’s obedience to the Lord to help these kids and to find any way he could to do it, was something that struck me very, very viscerally.

The film is also very much about fatherhood — whether actual or spiritual.

Roumie said:

It comes down to completely opening up your heart to another human being in the way that Jesus would and opening your heart to Jesus who’s part of the triune God of the Universe, in a way where … there’s an intensity of love exchanged with that person and for that person that.

I mean, it’s no wonder that he was named next of kin by all these [Boys Town] kids that went off to serve in World War II, as their father, as their surrogate father.

He had such an abundance of love for these children and for their wellbeing and for their success as members of society.

Here’s one more look at Heart of a Servant: The Father Flanagan Story (click here for the official website, and here for ticket and theater information from fathom Events):