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During the recent Eucharistic Congress, Aleteia sat down for a fascinating conversation with Fr. David Michael Moses. Regular readers know Fr. David Michael for his clever videos that present aspects of the faith in creative and insightful ways. He also loves writing music, and his “Concerts for Life” have raised more than $800,000 for the Houston Pregnancy Help Center.
Meeting Fr. David Michael in person, one can’t help but be impressed by his genuinely positive demeanor. This is a young man who says that he is “super, super grateful” for his priesthood. He just celebrated his fifth anniversary as a priest and is “excited for hopefully 50 more years of this.”
He told me that being with his brother priests was a highlight of the Congress for him.
“You know, these guys are heroes. These priests are heroes,” he said. “They have given up so much to follow Jesus, and they go where the bishop tells them to go, and they love who the bishop tells them to love. And they are so zealous for souls.”
Fr. David Michael said that just seeing them was an encouragement. “Thank God I’m not doing this alone. There’s an army that God is raising up, and he is sending good shepherds for his people.”
Supporting our shepherds
I asked him what lay people can do to support priests today.
“Gratefulness is good for all of us, right?” he said, with a smile. Referring to an earlier part of our conversation, on freedom and respect for each person’s freedom, he acknowledged that sure, a priest has freely chosen his life. “Nobody forced him to be a priest.” But precisely that freedom is an inspiration to respond in gratitude.
“I’m so grateful when a priest hears my confession,” Fr. David Michael said, “because he didn’t have to become a priest. No, he didn’t have to hear my confession. The priest doesn’t have to show up for Mass on Sunday. […] He does it because he loves you. And I think gratefulness goes a long way in consoling the heart of Jesus and then consoling the heart of Jesus in the priest as well.”
But Fr. David Michael had another idea as well.
“Ultimately, as a priest, what we’re trying to do is to sanctify our people,” he pointed out. “We want to help make them holy. So the best favor someone can do for us is to be holy. You know, that saves us a lot of work, if [people are] being the mothers and the fathers and the young people that the Lord wants them to be!”
And today we celebrate...