My Journey to Priesthood | Fr. David Michael Moses

Summary

Father David Michael Moses, a 27-year-old Roman Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, shares his journey and daily life in this engaging video. From his early morning routine to unexpected calls, he emphasizes the excitement and unpredictability of priesthood. Raised in a non-Catholic family, his conversion story and calling to the priesthood are deeply personal. He blends his musical talents with his ministry, organizing benefit concerts and connecting with his community. The video highlights his dedication to serving God and his parish, offering a glimpse into the fulfilling and challenging life of a young priest.

Takeaways

• 😀 Father David Michael Moses is a 27-year-old Roman Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
• 🌳 He enjoys spending time in nature and values his close friendships.
• 🙏 His mornings are dedicated to personal care, prayer, and preparation for his unpredictable day as a priest.
• 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Father David Michael's parents converted to Catholicism after marriage, which influenced his faith journey.
• 🎓 Despite initially wanting to get married, he felt a calling to the priesthood after a silent retreat at age 16.
• 🎤 He has a passion for music and won a Christian music competition with his original songs.
• 🎉 He organizes annual benefit concerts, raising significant funds for Houston pregnancy help centers.
• 💒 His ordination was a significant and emotional milestone, marking his commitment to serve God's people.
• 🕊️ He found confirmation in his vocation through a series of spiritual signs and a seven-year seminary process.
• 🚗 During the pandemic, he creatively engaged parishioners with a drive-through nativity scene, showcasing his dedication to community outreach.

Q & A

Who is Father David Michael Moses?

Father David Michael Moses is a 27-year-old Roman Catholic priest ordained for two years in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

What is Father David Michael's perspective on using his talents as a priest?

Father David Michael believes that God wants him to use his talents and gifts for something eternal, rather than getting rid of them.

What is a typical morning routine for Father David Michael?

His morning routine includes getting up early, working out, praying, and having breakfast before starting his day.

What background did Father David Michael's parents come from?

His mother was Baptist and his father was Lutheran before they converted to Catholicism after getting married.

How did Father David Michael realize his calling to the priesthood?

He realized his calling during a silent retreat at 16, feeling God might be calling him to be a priest despite his initial desire to marry.

How did Father David Michael reconcile his attraction to girls with his calling to the priesthood?

A spiritual director advised him that it's natural to be attracted to girls, and he should still take his calling seriously. He then started attending daily Mass and praying more.

What role did music play in Father David Michael's life?

Music has been a significant part of his life. He participated in a music competition called Music to Change and has organized benefit concerts supporting Houston pregnancy help centers.

What was a significant moment during Father David Michael's ordination?

A significant moment was when he felt God saying, 'These are your people now. I need you to love them, care for them, and lay down your life for them.'

What impact did the pandemic have on Father David Michael's ministry?

The pandemic changed how he ministered to people. Despite the challenges, he felt called to be a priest during this time to focus on things eternal.

What initiative did Father David Michael's parish undertake during the pandemic for Christmas?

The parish organized a drive-through nativity scene to allow people to experience the journey of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus while staying in their cars.

Outlines

00:00

🌲 Time to Head to the Woods

Father David Michael Moses, a 27-year-old Roman Catholic priest, discusses his life as a priest in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. He explains how God uses his talents for eternal purposes, shares his daily routine, and highlights the unpredictable and exciting nature of his work.

05:00

👶 Growing Up in a Catholic Family

Father Moses reminisces about his upbringing in a mixed-faith family, his parents' conversion to Catholicism, and their influence on his faith journey. He shares a humorous anecdote about his name and reflects on the importance of faithfulness, both in his parents' marriage and in his vocation.

10:03

🎸 Discovering the Call to Priesthood

Father Moses recounts his early life in Corpus Christi, his initial reluctance towards priesthood due to his desire to marry, and his eventual realization of his calling during a silent retreat. He describes his discernment process, his struggles with celibacy, and his final decision to enter the seminary.

15:06

🎤 Music and Ministry

Father Moses talks about his involvement in music, including his participation in a Christian music competition and his organization of benefit concerts for pro-life causes. He emphasizes the importance of using talents for God's glory and reflects on the impact of music in bringing about positive change.

20:07

🎄 Celebrating Christmas in a Pandemic

Father Moses describes the creative efforts of his parish to engage people during the pandemic, such as organizing a drive-through nativity scene. He shares the overwhelming response from parishioners and the importance of reminding people of God's presence during uncertain times.

Keywords

💡Priest

A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform sacred rituals, particularly in Christianity. In the video, Father David Michael Moses, a Roman Catholic priest, shares his journey and daily life, emphasizing the diverse and dynamic nature of his priestly duties.

💡Vocation

Vocation refers to a person's occupation, especially regarded as particularly worthy and requiring dedication. The video illustrates Father David Michael's discernment process, his initial resistance, and eventual acceptance of his calling to the priesthood.

💡Eucharist

The Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion, is a Christian sacrament commemorating the Last Supper by consecrating bread and wine. Father David Michael highlights the significance of the Eucharist in his ministry, describing it as a central aspect of his priestly duties.

💡Sacraments

Sacraments are religious ceremonies considered to impart divine grace, such as baptism and confession in Christianity. The video shows Father David Michael administering sacraments, which he views as vital moments that bring hope and joy to people's lives.

💡Celibacy

Celibacy is the state of abstaining from marriage and sexual relations, often for religious reasons. Father David Michael discusses his initial struggle with the requirement of celibacy and how he came to terms with it during his discernment journey.

💡Discernment

Discernment in a religious context refers to the process of understanding God's will in one's life. The video details Father David Michael's discernment journey, from feeling a call during a retreat to seeking signs from God and eventually entering the seminary.

💡Seminary

A seminary is an institution for training individuals for religious leadership, particularly in Christianity. Father David Michael spent seven years in the seminary, where he grew in his faith and prepared for his role as a priest.

💡Ministry

Ministry refers to the work or vocation of a minister of religion. Father David Michael's ministry involves a variety of activities, from celebrating Mass to providing spiritual guidance and support to his parishioners.

💡Anointing of the Sick

Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament administered to bring spiritual and sometimes physical strength during an illness. The video highlights Father David Michael's experience administering this sacrament and the comfort it brings to families.

💡Pro-life

Pro-life refers to the stance against abortion and in favor of protecting human life from conception. The video mentions Father David Michael's involvement in pro-life activities, including organizing benefit concerts to support pregnancy help centers.

Highlights

Father David Michael Moses introduces himself as a 27-year-old Roman Catholic priest.

Father David Michael explains how being a priest utilizes his talents for something eternal.

He shares his morning routine, emphasizing the importance of personal care before daily responsibilities.

Father David Michael describes the unpredictable nature of his day, including potential emergencies.

His journey to priesthood was influenced by his parents' conversion to Catholicism after their marriage.

He humorously recalls being named Abigail for three days because his parents thought he would be a girl.

Father David Michael reflects on his childhood in Houston, Texas, near NASA, and his love for altar serving.

He narrates his call to priesthood during a silent retreat at age 16, despite his interest in getting married.

Father David Michael emphasizes the impact of daily mass and prayer in discerning his vocation.

A significant moment of confirmation in his call to priesthood involved seeing a dove symbol in church.

He shares the surreal experience of his ordination day and the profound sense of responsibility it brought.

Father David Michael recounts moments of conversion and joy in ministering to people, such as anointing the sick.

He talks about the Concert for Life, a benefit concert he organizes to support Houston Pregnancy Help Centers.

Father David Michael highlights the importance of music in his life and its role in his ministry.

He reflects on the challenges and opportunities brought by the COVID-19 pandemic in his early priesthood.

A drive-through nativity scene was organized during the pandemic, drawing a significant response from parishioners.

Father David Michael shares a touching moment where a little girl asked if he was God, highlighting the role of priests in guiding people to find God.

He concludes with a reminder of the enduring presence of the Eucharist and his commitment to being a good priest.

Transcripts

time to get out of the house

time to head into the woods

don't got a lot of friends but the ones

i have are good

[Music]

[Applause]

some people wonder if being a priest is

boring

not to me

hey guys i'm father david michael moses

i'm 27 years old i'm a roman catholic

priest and i've been ordained for two

years here in the archdiocese of

galveston houston

when you follow christ and you become a

priest he doesn't want to get rid of all

of your talents and your gifts he just

wants you to use them for something

eternal

time to get out of the house

time to head to the woods

don't got a lot of friends but the ones

i have are good

the whole band is ready

and it's time to go

gonna be a good night at the catholic

rodeo

[Music]

we usually have mass at the paris around

8 30 and after that the day can kind of

go crazy so i want to make sure i take

care of all my personal stuff before

then so i want to get up early enough so

that i can get ready for the day work

out pray maybe have some breakfast

before we start the supernatural stuff

we gotta take care of the natural stuff

[Music]

as a priest it's nice to have the

mornings to get ready for the day and

certainly you have a schedule for what

you think the day might look like but

you never really know how things are

gonna end up at any point i could get a

call for an emergency for someone who

might be dying you could have someone

come in the office who really has to

talk to a priest right then it can be

kind of tough to kind of give god your

schedule give him your freedom but it's

also really exciting waking up every day

not really knowing what venture is lies

ahead so you guys can check out with me

and see where things go

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

i always do that before baptisms to

remind myself what the babies go through

[Music]

so i'm headed to my parents house right

now the house where i grew up my parents

actually didn't grow up catholic my mom

was baptist my dad was lutheran they

didn't convert to the catholic faith

until after they got married along with

both of my dad's siblings and their

spouses but i'm really thankful that

they were able to hand on the catholic

faith to me and their journey is a

testament and it was an example for me

that we should be willing to pursue the

truth wherever that lies

obviously my parents couldn't really

model for me the priesthood but they did

through their marriage modeled for me

what faithfulness looks like and i hope

i can live that out well in my vocation

to make sure i'm always faithful

[Music]

[Music]

so i was born in corpus christi texas

i'm the fifth of six kids

[Music]

my parents actually thought i was gonna

be a girl for nine months in the womb so

i was baby abigail that entire time it

wasn't until i i was born my mom held me

up at the hospital and said oh abigail

abigail you're a boy

and i didn't have a name for three days

after that because they were so

unprepared

and my dad always wanted a son named

michael but my mom had dated a guy in

high school named michael and she

thought that like if he heard that she

named one of her kids that he would

think that she was still into him or

something like that so

she kind of shot the name down with my

older brothers but with me she finally

was willing to add david to the name and

they decided to call me both david

michael which was already a pretty long

name when you add father david michael

to it it is even longer i thought about

going by father moses my last name but

that sounds like i'm like 140 years old

right it doesn't really fit

[Music]

moved here to this house when i was four

years old here in houston texas right

near nasa it's kind of a cool place to

be because we had an astronaut living on

our street here the astronauts teaching

us cce which just made it a lot of fun

growing up

[Music]

and i really love the fact that i was

able to be raised in the catholic faith

really enjoyed alter serving growing up

just being close to the eucharist as an

all-server being close to the sacrifice

of the mass i really felt like was the

most important thing i did every single

week and was always grateful for that

[Music]

as an alter grown up sometimes people

would say oh you'd be such a cute little

priest and i would say i like girls and

i honestly thought that because i wanted

to get married i knew priests couldn't

get married that meant i was not

supposed to be a priest so it was until

i went on a silent retreat when i was 16

just kind of praying during that time

that i felt the lord start to say in the

silence it might be you it might be you

i'm calling to be a priest

[Music]

so i remember talking to the spiritual

director on that retreat and just

telling him hey like i'm kind of feeling

drawn to the priesthood but i really

like girls i don't know what to do about

that and he said it's okay don't worry

um that's totally natural

god still might be calling you and you

have to take that seriously so i started

going daily mass every single day

started praying a lot and really just

asking the lord

to open my heart to whatever it was that

he had for me

i fell in love really with what a priest

could do for people specifically to

literally give them jesus in the

eucharist to the mass and to forgive

their sins and the person of christ and

confession i just thought what more

could i do with my life than that but of

course the girl thing was definitely

still there

[Music]

and so i ended up contacting the

vocations director for the archdiocese

um the priest in charge of helping young

guys discern the seminary i got about

half of the application process with him

and just got really nervous about the

celibacy thing again and so i called him

and said hey i'm kind of feeling nervous

and he said okay why don't you come

downtown and talk to me so i was driving

downtown and i read at a certain point

discernment you could ask god to send

you a sign so i said okay god if you

want me to go into seminary send me a

dub

so i'm driving downtown and i see some

birds and i'm not really sure if they're

doves and i realized i don't really know

what a dove looks like in the wild i

really should have been more specific

about what i asked for

so i ended up talking vocational

director and he said to really focus my

discernment so at the time having just

graduated from college when i was 18

i've been accepted to some law schools

as well so i was looking at that as a

possible option he said to stop

discerning seminary and really discern

law school to isolate that discernment

and so i did that for the next couple of

months i really prayed about law school

by that time i realized i really didn't

want to be a lawyer and i was still

feeling called to the priesthood but i

was still nervous about this celibacy

thing so everything came to a head when

i was praying in a holy hour in my home

parish here in nassau bay praying there

in the holy hour i just said god look i

want to do whatever it is you want just

tell me what it is if you want me going

to seminary send me a dove like crash on

through a window or something like that

right then i looked up and realized that

the huge pain and glass window of the

altar of the church was a dove

symbol of the holy spirit a giant dove

and i thought wow i'm a doofus this

whole time all serving all these masses

this stuff has always been here god's

call in my life so at that point i

entered the seminary um felt like i had

what i needed and it ended up being a

seven year process each year um i almost

didn't come back it was about 50 50 each

of those first couple of years but

something inside me always kept pulling

me back so it wasn't until i went on

what's called pastoral year where i was

full-time in a parish that i really felt

confirmed in that call to the priesthood

just absolutely loved parish ministry

loved being with people as as a minister

as a representative of god and just fell

in love with the idea of being a

spiritual father

[Music]

the day of my ordination it was finally

here there's a quote from a movie i love

it came so quickly after taking so long

that's really how i felt you know you

spend seven years you enter seminary you

think this is gonna be such a long time

and then suddenly it's there you know it

comes so fast we spent years and years

serving at ordinations as seminarians

for guys who are getting ordained and

then suddenly you show up for rehearsal

and you're the guy getting ordained you

know it's completely surreal and getting

ready that morning with my family and

all of all my sisters and my brothers

there um i drove there with my my

spiritual director who had really guided

me to this point we drove together and

he was the one who was festing me that

day um

and just walking into the church that

morning uh seeing all the people you

know for us there were there were seven

guys getting ordained which is the most

we had in our diocese since 1986 and

about 30 years so the church was just

packed

the music was absolutely beautiful

absolutely majestic

seeing all the other priests um walking

in the church you know had it ahead of

us the hundreds of of guys in the

presbyterate that we were going to join

that day and i remember getting up there

um you know to be ordained and turning

around and seeing

all the people you know we had thousands

of people there um and i really felt the

lord

saying in my heart

and michael these are my people

and i'm a father for them

i love them i care for them i lay down

my life for them

i felt him say david michael

today

i'm giving them to you

these are your people now

i need you to love them

and to care for them

and to lay down your life for them

i need you to be

a father for them

and to feel that on that day to know

that this is what i was signing up for

to lay down my life

for god's people in the way that he did

was such a gift and such a blessing

[Music]

but yeah just so many moments of just

seeing conversion in people's lives

um

leaving just what happened monday what i

mentioned that family really wanted

someone to come in and anoint them in

the hospital

and uh

and just seeing the joy on the family's

face coming out knowing that they've

been

um that they've been annoying that

they've been prepared in that moment

then they called yesterday and said they

passed away in just a couple hours

and yet they were still

so happy that i had come you know like

that's what i kind of mostly felt

talking to them after the anointing was

like

in the midst of such a sad situation

like like their their husband their

father was dying you know he was dying

that was the truth of the situation

but the fact that i was able to anoint

him

for them meant like this was actually a

moment not of sadness but a moment of

joy and i really felt in that moment

like that's what sacraments that's what

the sacraments do is they pierce into

like these dark moments in our lives

and infuse like joy like there was

something to celebrate in the midst of

his dying

there was something to celebrate that

like jesus was there fully and jesus was

was pouring grace into his heart and

preparing him to meet him and the fact

that sacraments can give people that

kind of hope and then as a priest i can

be an instrument of that hope for people

is just it's just awesome it blows it

blows my mind

so this picture was taken at one of our

concerts for life which is a benefit

concert we do each year supporting

houston pregnancy help centers

i grew up i started taking piano lessons

when i was about six or seven years old

but retired after a year i started

taking charleston when i was about 10

years old and also quit after about a

year

[Applause]

then a year after that i picked up my

guitar again and wrote my first song

about all the dogs in our neighborhood

and that really revamped my passion for

music i started writing lots of

different songs continued to take guitar

lessons picked up the drums went back to

piano and really just developed a

passion for writing music time to get

out of the house

time to head to the woods

don't got a lot of friends but the ones

i have are good

the whole band's ready so a few years

into seminary i heard about a music

competition called music to change

battle of the bands and it was a

songwriting competition for different

christian bands to come and compete

against one another i didn't really have

a band but i entered by myself i did my

one man band act with my original song

let's go for a race

time to kick this night

into four-wheel drive

[Music]

turn the music up cause it's time to get

down

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

and thanks be to god ended up winning

the competition but really appreciated

what the message of of it all was

music to change that music should be

something that brings about change music

as art should be something that is

beautiful that draws us outside of

ourselves draws us to eternity draws us

to god and hopefully brings about a

positive change in our christian lives

just a few months ago this church was

packed

so many people we had to adapt chairs in

the hallways chairs in the street

come out as early if you want to see

but things change so fast things change

so soon and suddenly we have plenty of

room

so my dad has always been involved in

pro-life work he did a lot of it before

i was born and now he's on the board of

a pro-life pregnancy help center here in

houston

each year they would do a fundraising

dinner right which was always very

successful but they were looking for

different ways to branch out so the

summer before i entered seminary when i

was 18 my dad said how about you do a

benefit concert for them you've been

writing all of this music you play all

these instruments why not put it to good

use for a good cause

so we had our first concert for life we

had about 300 people come and raised

about fifty thousand dollars it's a lot

of fun it really helped listeners out

have to be a priest or a deacon or a

prophet to grab a prayer and stick it in

your pocket got a prayer book in my

pocket and i'm not afraid to use it

honestly at that point i kind of thought

i was done with music i went off to

seminary and was focused on the

priesthood

[Music]

i used to want an easy life

free of pain and free of strife

i used to think that comfort was pretty

soon the next year came around the

pregnancy help center needed some more

money so we decided to do another

concert for life we brought some other

priests and seminarians in i continued

to write different songs and just this

past summer we did our eighth annual

concert for life we now have raised

collectively over half a million dollars

had crowds of over a thousand people and

it's really developed into something

that um has been a lot of fun and good

for vocations and really hopefully a

huge support to the pregnancy help

centers here

not the whole time i've really been just

in awe of how god works in our lives

right when you come to follow jesus you

might think that you're giving up who

you are when really what god wants to do

is use everything you are for his glory

when you follow christ when you become a

priest he doesn't want to get rid of all

of your talents and your gifts he just

wants you to use them for something

eternal

[Music]

ultimately guys there's a reason why

you're here there's a reason why you're

living in these times a reason why

you're living in this place

god made you because he thought it was a

good idea

god made you because he had something

for you

that nobody else could do so it's good

to take time to to discern that to be

open to whatever god has it's only those

of us who are pursuing the priesthood of

religious life we definitely need your

prayers but don't just pray that god

will send good people

make sure you're open to being the

person he sends

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

obviously some you know challenges with

the pandemic you know it's kind of crazy

that was like six months in my

priesthood you know we're doing

everything all of a sudden things just

changed you know very suddenly how we

were supposed to minister to people and

a lot of people said like oh i'm so

sorry this is like you're part of your

first year as a priest you know um but i

always told them like this is why i'm a

priest because the world

is broken and you don't know what's

coming next and we've got to make sure

we're focusing on the right things

because everything can pass away and you

know this world can pass away so quickly

that we need to make sure we focus on

things that are eternal so i definitely

felt like god wanted me into me to be a

priest at this time you know for this

time

[Music]

as we get ready to celebrate christmas

here at the parish we're always

wondering how we can engage people and

draw them deeper into the mystery of the

birth of our savior obviously last year

with the pandemic it was hard to have

people in person on campus so someone

came with the idea of having a

drive-through nativity scene where

people could come stay in their cars but

experience kind of the journey of mary

and joseph and and jesus and the birth

of christ welcome to bethlehem

wonderland the story of christmas come

alive

[Music]

[Applause]

so we had all these families come in

they had their costumes and their

children we had some people who work in

radio make this beautiful audio tour

that people could listen to in the car

as they drove through the nativity scene

we really had no idea what to expect we

had never done this before right but we

were totally blown away by the response

from parishioners

[Applause]

what's up guys

how's it going merry christmas it was

wonderful

[Music]

we ended up having i think close to 600

cars in line at one point the line was

almost five miles long eventually we had

to shut the whole thing down because

people in the city couldn't get to like

walmart and other places that they

needed to go but it was a beautiful

outpouring of love for

our child jesus especially i think in

those times um when we experienced the

the uncertainty of life and the

brokenness um it was so comforting i

think for people to be reminded that god

is with us i think our job as catholics

is to let people know that if they need

a savior we have one and to point them

toward him

[Music]

i had a little girl come up to me once

and say

are you god

and you could tell she was disappointed

to answer her question

no

no i'm not

but i can't tell you where to find him

every day i'm going to wake up and try

to be a good priest for you

sometimes i'll succeed

sometimes i'll fail

thank god

the eucharist remains

i'm father david michael

until next time

god bless

good morning again marie hey hey hey hey

hey

i can like dab you

yeah we're doing all these things that

can get beautiful music and then just

cut him saying we never actually do this

hey guys hope you enjoyed the video i

had a blast working with shalom world on

this one you can check out a link to

their website in the description below

and be sure to subscribe to my channel

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content we'll see you next time god

bless