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, north of Houston.

“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?”

A young girl positions herself behind the plate, leans forward and takes a deep breath. In front of her, by a few yards, a boy with a shock of red hair rears his arm back and rolls a large red rubber ball directly at her. The girl takes a few well-timed steps before delivering a hard kick that thuds into the ball’s gut, emanating a unique rubberized ping.

The ball skims over the grass, past a slow-reacting third baseman with a blonde mullet, and comes to a stop in the outfield. The girl, who took off on impact, reaches second, standing up to the cheers of her teammates.

Welcome to Kickball Arkansas, Little Rock’s first youth kickball league. Now entering its second season, the venture is the brainchild of two former high school pals who share a love for sports and a love for young people.

“Our entire idea is based on the fact that kickball is fun; it’s a sport that everyone loves and that nearly anyone can play,” said Matthew Matchett, who founded the league with Grant Nolan. “We realized there was a niche in the sports league offering, at least in Little Rock.”

If the idea of a youth kickball league sounds like an unusual idea for a business, it is only the latest element of Matchett’s life that defies the convention of your typical 25-year-old. Entering fifth grade, he and his family left Little Rock to spend what was supposed to be a year in Mexico.

“My parents were big travelers, and they made a little pact when they got married that if they ever had kids, that they would spend some time in another country,” he said. “One year turned to three and I did fifth, sixth, and seventh grade in Mexico, then an eighth grade, bounce-back, United States culture shock year.”

Matchett next enrolled in Catholic High School in Little Rock where he met Nolan, who would eventually become class president. After graduating in 2018, Matchett headed to TCU in Fort Worth, where he majored in business with the idea of living the life of an entrepreneur. He came back home and started to suss out the details of turning that dream into reality.

“I was looking for opportunities at that point,” he said. “I’d been trying to find a business to start. I tried some AI-related things; I was making videos online and getting a lot of views on TikTok and Instagram making comedy videos. Honestly, I was kind of confused, just looking for a path. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.”

It was then that Matchett reunited with Nolan, who by that time had become a PE coach at The Anthony School in Little Rock and who’d previously organized a kickball group at work.

“He had done a club for the students at the school where about 15 of them signed up,” Matchett said. “I just thought it was such a great idea that we could turn it into a business and why not invite the whole city and turn it into a league?”

The duo joined forces and set about the details of launching the league they’d call Little Rock Kickball — games for K-8th for eight weeks and no practices. For their first season last fall, they attracted 165 registrations across four age groups. They also secured a playing spot at The Anthony School for their Sunday afternoon games and landed additional help from CHS alumni, who served as volunteer coaches and umpires for the 10-week season.

The experience taught the duo a lot about their business model and the needs and wants of their clientele, whether it’s offering scholarships to make it affordable or accommodating children with special needs, who are warmly welcomed into the fold.

“A big majority of parents have sent us thank you emails, telling us how great of an idea this is because their child can’t participate in sports because of whatever situation,” he said. “We had one girl who has Down syndrome, and she can’t do things with a lot of rules, but she absolutely had a blast being the pitcher for her team in kickball last season. Some of the kids have autism, but you can’t even tell because they’re just out there having fun.”

As the duo enters its second season of play beginning March 30, Matchett, a Methodist, said the venture is serving a higher purpose than the business partners ever imagined.

“This business has taught me to put my faith in God and ask for guidance and wisdom and that is no joke,” he said. “When I got this idea, I had a sales job offer, or I could have worked for our family business and I didn’t know which route to take. I prayed for guidance and within a week, one job offer after another fell through and in front of me was the kickball idea and a very clear path on how we could start executing our business plan.

“There have been so many times where I’ve thought, ‘I am going to look like a fool. This thing is gonna fail. I have no idea which direction to take.’ All you can do is just pray and put your faith in God and he will lead the way.”

To learn more about the league and to sign up, visit kickballar.com or email Matchett at Matt@kickballar.com.