Hitting 1 million followers on Instagram is an achievement often
celebrated in creative ways by social media influencers, but when Father
David Michael Moses marked that milestone on Ash Wednesday he used the
occasion to remind
his many followers that social media and this world are “all ashes” and
“passing away,” and the things of Jesus Christ are what lasts.
The
milestone video was perfect for Father David Michael, 31, who posts
humorous videos about his life as a priest alongside simple explanations
of different areas of Catholic teaching. His videos have earned
millions of views on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.
Father David
Michael told OSV News recently that he started making videos when he was
very young and has “always found it interesting as a means of conveying
a message,” but “didn’t think too much about doing it as a priest.”
Documenting a priest’s day
That
changed five years ago when he was about six months into his
priesthood, and it occurred to him that it would have been helpful in
his own discernment to see a video of what priests do all day. “I
thought I am a priest, so why not just make a little video about what we
do all day?”
The day he chose for the video included joyful moments such as the baptism of quintuplets and a wedding.
“There’s
a bunch of beautiful things that were pretty normal as a priest,” he
said, “but I thought most people didn’t really get to see the behind the
scenes and so I kind of just filmed it, posted it and I was hoping it
would be helpful for a few young guys thinking about priesthood.”
“What
I found instead was that just in general people found it helpful, even
atheists thought it was kind of interesting what priests did all day,”
he said of the video which now has over 160,000 views. “So, I started
making a video about once a month.” He gradually switched to short form
content which better fits his busy schedule as parochial vicar at Christ
the Good Shepherd Church in Spring, Texas.
“I’ve just seen so
much fruit for evangelization from it that I’ve been very affirmed to
keep going in this direction,” he said. “What I think is especially
unique about social media is you’re able to reach people who would not
otherwise come in contact with the church.”
Bringing the Gospel to social media
His humor often plays off of social media trends and puns. One video
he recently posted with over 9 million views on Instagram begins with
him complaining about soggy French fries and being told he needs a
fryer, he then hands the fries to a bewildered looking Franciscan Friar
of the Renewal, Father Mark-Mary Ames. In another video with over 13
million views, Father David Michael quips that “people ask why priests always wear black” and it’s “because every day is a funeral for the haters.”
He
has found a lot of success using humor in his videos, he said, because
“it’s a universal language” and if a video is funny enough people will
show it to their friends “and all of a sudden somebody is watching a
video of a Catholic priest.”
“Humor
in so many ways in this little culture of social media, is the way to
connect so let’s learn the language, let’s learn the culture and let’s
bring the Gospel there,” he said, “the church has an ancient tradition
of doing that.”
He
often gets feedback from people who have been away from the church or
who are atheists who “thought the videos were kind of funny, so they
followed and then next thing they know they’re watching a video about
going back to confession or they’re watching a video about the Virgin
Mary or about the Rosary and about Catholicism. And that’s really a
touch point for them to start to either go back to the church or to
start to rev up their spiritual lives.”
His more serious videos
include simple explanations of Catholic observances during Holy week,
confession, transubstantiation and addressing questions like “how late
can a Catholic be to Mass?”
Father David Michael said that two
people in the process of entering the church at his parish, began
attending church events after seeing his videos which gradually led to
their decision to convert. He was also told of a young man entering
seminary who mentioned his videos as a help in his discernment process.
“Not
everybody gets the social media stuff,” he said, “but when you see the
concrete fruit like that from it, this is what we’re trying to do as a
church and this is helping us do it.”
He
is also very conscious of the pitfalls of social media including how
addictive it can become and how much of the content can pose threats to
purity.
He likened social media to “a bad neighborhood,” saying
“I think I would tell people to be very cautious in a bad neighborhood,
but I do think every bad neighborhood needs the church and every bad
neighborhood should have a priest.”
“We should have certain
people who know how to deal with the danger and are properly trained in
it and are intentional and are trying to really bring the Gospel there,”
he emphasized.
Regarding Catholics who might struggle with
balancing social media use in their lives, Father David Michael said he
would tell most people that “if they’re not sure, just to get off social
media, just delete it, get rid of it.”
“For most Catholics, I’d
say especially for parents with children, keep your kids away from
social media,” he said, “I use it as a tool for evangelization.
Otherwise, I’m not sure necessarily what the value is.”
He called
social media “morally neutral” saying “it’s all about how you use it,”
but added that “social media has a natural way of kind of tending toward
the negative in terms of the effects on people’s lives” and cited
studies suggesting social media “makes you less happy when you have it.”
He
said if people have “a healthy relationship with it. If it’s helpful
for them in terms of business or education or whatever, I think it’s
okay for them to use it, but if you’re on the fence, I would say, just
get off it.”
Struggles of youth today
In
his time as a young priest ministering to young people online, Father
David Michael addressed some of the common troubles that he sees youth
face in today’s culture.
“I
think there’s a misconception among young people that if God loves you
then you won’t have to suffer,” he said. “It’s not scriptural, it’s not
in the tradition of the church, but the enemy kind of pushes that, he
takes something that’s true which is God loves you and he wants what’s
good for you and he has a plan for you. That’s all true. And then he
kind of whispers ‘so you won’t have to suffer.’ And then that’s not
true, right? That’s the opposite of the whole Gospel. Jesus says take up
your cross and follow me.”
“When you suffer for something then that’s how you love,” he emphasized.
He
added that young people sometimes are “missing a real desire for
greatness,” saying, “one of the gifts that young people actually offer
to the world, to the church, is a zealous — maybe a little over the top
sometimes — desire for greatness.”
“A lot of young people have
decided they can just kind of settle for less. They don’t need an
incredible marriage, they don’t need to live a life of heroic
sacrifice,” he said. “They don’t need to be a priest” and they think
“‘I’m just going to coast along and try to feel good’ and I think that’s
very dangerous and ultimately then people are missing out on all the
good that God wants to do in their lives.”
As someone who was
ordained at age 25, Father David Michael believes “it’s all about just
saying yes when he (God) calls.” He said that while some people advised
him that he didn’t need to enter seminary at such a young age, he
recognized his calling.
“I think people can be scared of
commitment young sometimes, but, for me, when you go about it in a
discerning way and deliberately, intentionally, commitment is actually
very freeing,” he said, “to actually focus your entire life on the one
thing that you committed to, the thing that you value most. And so, I’m
just super grateful to have been called young.”
