Priest influencer on evangelizing through humor, social media pitfalls and advice to Gen Z

(OSV News) -- 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."

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."

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."

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."