- 7 weeks ago
What is the real spirit of Christmas—beyond gifts and celebrations? 🎄✨
Join us LIVE as we welcome Fr. Samuel Leidel, an American priest, as he shares heartfelt and practical reflections on celebrating Christmas with compassion, faith, and community.
From lived experience to meaningful action, this conversation invites us to rediscover what truly matters this season.
Join us LIVE as we welcome Fr. Samuel Leidel, an American priest, as he shares heartfelt and practical reflections on celebrating Christmas with compassion, faith, and community.
From lived experience to meaningful action, this conversation invites us to rediscover what truly matters this season.
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LifestyleTranscript
04:59So that's what I would say.
05:01Someone very busy because of that.
05:02I have lots of projects, lots of things going on, lots of invitations like this, which I'm
05:08very happy to accept and stuff like that.
05:10But it gives me a joy in knowing that I try very hard to make a difference in the world with
05:15my faith through social media, through youth ministry, and many other things as well.
05:19So I'm curious, so I'm curious, so I'm curious, actually, Father Sam, growing up as a kid in the U.S., what kind of a kid was Sam?
05:27Yeah, I was so, I would say, I was pretty kind of introverted, I guess, very different from what I am right now, it's kind of funny.
05:36I grew up in a very Catholic family.
05:39I'm the eldest of nine kids, so I'm going to go to Mass every Sunday, actually, even every day, we would go to daily Mass.
05:52I was homeschooled, I didn't go to school, but faith was always important for me, but also music.
05:58I was actually a violinist before, so that was a little bit of my life.
06:02Classic or the pop violinist?
06:04Classical, classical music, yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:07So, I think I have an idea, but I'll still ask, you know.
06:10Sure, anything.
06:13If you're not a priest right now, what do you think should you be doing?
06:17That's a good question, you know, I, we don't really know, of course, you know, what would, where the Lord would have called me.
06:24But, so, for a while, I was hoping to be a violinist.
06:27The year before, I decided to become a religious with this community, I had lots of thoughts of becoming a doctor, you know, because I, I was thinking,
06:35well, you need to, you know, I'm a doctor, you know, I'm a doctor, you know, I'm a doctor, you know, something like that.
06:39I had a very different mindset before, and so, I was thinking of that.
06:44Also, to, you know, to serve people, I find it a very beautiful profession to be a doctor, to help those who are vulnerable, I appreciate them so much.
06:52It turns out that I became a doctor of souls, so that's, that's what the Lord called me to do.
06:57Do you also dance, no, whether in private or in public, no, when you hear your favorite song?
07:06Do I dance?
07:07Definitely not.
07:08Oh, you don't?
07:09You don't do like this?
07:10So, I'm sure my youth are laughing at me right now, because, so, just a couple days ago, I was trying, I tried to dance.
07:17I was doing some, a couple, like, little TikTok videos with them.
07:20Oppalite.
07:21Yeah, oh my goodness.
07:22I don't care about myself.
07:23I'm a TikToker, but not a dancer, you know, so, it's very hard for me to dance.
07:29How about your comfort food?
07:33Oh, my comfort food.
07:36Gosh, I would say, I love many different Filipino foods.
07:39I would say, that's one of my favorites, pork sisig.
07:44I love mango float, my sweets.
07:49I love Humba as well.
07:51And healthy, no, if you like it.
07:52So, because you mentioned about, you also like music.
08:02So, if there's one Christmas song that you can play on repeat the whole season, what would that be?
08:13You know, that's funny, when you asked me that question, I was thinking, oh, this is going to be very difficult to respond, but right away, I had a song come into my mind, it's Silent Night.
08:24Silent Night.
08:25I think there's so much noise in the world today, so much noise, and how much we need to experience that, I think, at Christmas, that Jesus helps our life to be simple, silent, and beautiful as well, I think.
08:41Like, that's funny, it just came into my head like that.
08:43Thank you for the question, that's very nice, yeah.
08:45I would say Silent Night.
08:47And, Quan, can you say, if you have a superpower?
08:51Oh, man.
08:52For a day, what would you do?
08:57I think, if I had a superpower, I would want to have the superpower to cure all sicknesses.
09:05Any sickness I touch would cure, so that I could help lots of people who are sick.
09:10And, earlier, I was also curious, because you mentioned about joy, you know, and some people, and at least the people I know, would associate work with stress.
09:24But, in your case, you are doing so much, but you find joy in what you do.
09:31Why is that so?
09:32Well, there are many times when I get very stressed as well.
09:36If you ask the youth that I work with, or the other, the priest that I live with, they will tell you that I can get very anxious, I can get very stressed.
09:47And, I think that's something that a lot of people experience.
09:51Our world is very, puts a lot of pressure on us to be successful, to be busy.
09:56And, priests like me, we're not exempt of that as well, as you know.
10:00There's so many things that we could do.
10:02But, you know, what I would say is what helps me to be peaceful and joyful in all of the work that I have to do, is actually to, I have this little thing where I do throughout the day, of I'll try to stop myself if I get a little bit stressed, and just say thank you for something.
10:19It's something that I'm, actually, for the last couple weeks, I've been trying so hard to do this.
10:22Because, during the Christmas season, my goodness, those of you watching as well, you know this, like, there's so much, so many things to do, and so many expectations to live up to, right?
10:31And, like, even, like, for example, when I walked here earlier, I took just, when you were speaking to me, I just said, you know, thank you for DJ, you know, thank you God for DJ.
10:39Thank you for this beautiful studio.
10:41You know, thank you for allowing me to be here.
10:43The simple attitude of gratitude is what kind of, like, recalibrates the joy that I experience.
10:52That's mostly what I experience, but, yeah.
10:54And thank you for sharing that, because that's also what I've been trying to do when I have a hard time falling asleep.
11:02Oh, nice.
11:02Because normally, there are also a lot of pressures inside the head and the things that I needed to do, and yes, you know, so that's also something that I try to do consistently.
11:13Because, yes, once I acknowledge the good things also and the blessings in life, then that's when I would also be able to find peace, you know, and fall asleep.
11:23Yeah, there's something really powerful about gratitude.
11:27I don't know.
11:27I'm discovering that more and more, because I, you know, like I said, I can be also a very anxious person, and it's so easy to just put that aside, you know, and to stick with, I have to perform, I have to do this, I need to do that.
11:41And if we're going through our day all the time saying, I have to, I should be, I need to do this, after a while, it's like our emotions just, oh my gosh, just clock out after a while.
11:52It's just like, no, thank you, you know, I need a break, that kind of thing, so for sure.
11:56So what are the, you are in the Philippines for six years already now?
12:00Yeah, a little over six years now.
12:01Okay, so what habits have you developed in the Philippines that you did not do when you were in the U.S.?
12:10Yeah.
12:13You know, this is funny you ask this, because my sister and brother-in-law, my brother-in-law is Filipino, came to visit a couple weeks ago, and he asked me something.
12:21He said, why are all of these, there's so many people who just sit around.
12:25And I said, that's called tambay.
12:28Tambay is a great thing to do.
12:30And it's something that I've learned how to do, and that I'm not super good at it, you know, taking time every once in a while just to soak in life.
12:40And just to, you know, because that's really how I see it.
12:42I mean, people could say, oh, you know, being lazy or whatever.
12:44But for me, it's really unproductive.
12:46But for me, we need to have a healthy balance, right?
12:50And it's something that I saw even before I came to the Philippines in my, I saw this in my,
12:55Are you some seminarians here in France?
12:58The first, the Filipino.
12:59And I saw that they were very good at knowing how to just stop every once in a while.
13:05And so that's something that I've been trying to develop.
13:08Once again, it's not always easy.
13:10But I do like that.
13:11I think that we have that kind of openness in the culture here to like, it's okay just to sit.
13:17And, you know, it's good.
13:20It's beautiful.
13:21That's actually a fresh perspective.
13:25Because we've been hearing words of advice like live in the moment, live in the now.
13:33Not the now Cebu province, but live in the now.
13:36Nice one.
13:37But that's also what tambay can also positively mean.
13:45The positive way of seeing it.
13:46Yeah.
13:47So, yeah, that to me is also another way of looking at it.
13:51You've mentioned that your brother-in-law is a Filipino.
13:55Yeah, yeah.
13:56He was born and raised in the U.S.
13:57But his parents are from the Philippines.
14:01Was there any Filipino, maybe your brother-in-law, who first made you feel at home?
14:09Ooh, that's a good question.
14:09You know, the people who made me feel the most at home when I arrived here six years ago.
14:14I was only 23 years old.
14:15Still quite young.
14:17We're our neighbors, actually.
14:20So I, the first...
14:21Neighbors Inn?
14:22Neighbors Inn.
14:23Benawa.
14:24Benawa, Cebu City.
14:25So shout out to the taga-tugas of Tagagon Club.
14:27Yeah, it was very beautiful.
14:30I arrived there.
14:31I had tried to learn Cebuano a little bit, even before I arrived.
14:35And what I did is I made it part of my mission to learn the language when I arrived.
14:39How long did it take you?
14:41It's hard to say, like, because it's, you know, to be really fluent, it took a couple years, three years probably.
14:46Even still, I'm learning still.
14:48But maybe one year, I was able to have a conversation.
14:52Yeah, but they were very welcoming to...
14:56Because I was just a young brother at the time.
14:57I was not yet a priest, huh?
14:58I was just a seminarian.
15:01And they made me feel like I was part of their neighborhood.
15:04I would, you know, go to their little fiesta things and their novenas and their Bible sharing, whatever.
15:09And just, even just sometimes just...
15:11It was so much fun.
15:14And then, what was the first Cebuano phrase that you learned?
15:22First Cebuano phrase.
15:23Good question.
15:24I'm trying to think of that little word chart that I had when I was in France before I came here.
15:28The first kind of fun one that I learned was Kitakits, which is actually...
15:32It's Tagalog, no?
15:33Isn't it Tagalog?
15:34It's not Tagalog.
15:34It's not Tagalog.
15:35It's not Tagalog.
15:36It's not Tagalog.
15:36It's not Tagalog.
15:37Or Kitakits.
15:38It's the same.
15:38No, it's still the same.
15:39Kitakits in Japan.
15:40It's still the same.
15:40Kitakits in Japan.
15:40No, Kitakits in Japan.
15:41So, I started saying that and people would smile a lot when I said it.
15:47Kitakits.
15:47And I smile.
15:49Yeah, yeah.
15:50Okay.
15:52This was on the reverse now.
15:55Yeah.
15:55Because you also lived a blessed life in the U.S. now.
15:59What was something about the U.S. that you miss that you still think cannot or is not yet replaced?
16:10No, by being in the Philippines.
16:12Yeah, yeah.
16:13That's very good.
16:14Yeah, my life in America, that's where I grew up, right?
16:17So, I never actually worked there or went to college there.
16:22So, it's home for me.
16:24But at the same time, it's funny because I feel in a way a little bit more at home in the Philippines because I adulted here.
16:32All of my work experience is there.
16:34But no, my life in the U.S. was very beautiful.
16:37Our family wasn't a wealthy family.
16:39My dad is a construction worker.
16:42And yeah, we lived a very simple life with all my siblings.
16:46And one thing that I would say that I think is really irreplaceable is the fact that, well, you know, I am American.
16:53As much as I love the Philippines, I've lived here for a while.
16:57I speak the language fluently.
16:59I love the culture.
17:00Of course, if there are other people I know, I'm American.
17:04And I think that feeling of being one amongst people who look like me is something that I, it's normal that I won't have here.
17:15So, it's a little bit of a sacrifice as well, you know, because I know that I'm a little bit of an oddball here.
17:21We'd say in, you know, funny American English, kind of, you know, like he's a little bit of a weirdo.
17:28They're very welcoming most of the time.
17:30But it's just that I'm always the one being welcomed and never, very, very rarely the one that can really welcome, you know.
17:39So, there are really times that I do miss that, that I do miss that of just being part of the crowd.
17:46Yeah, I would say that.
17:49Now, while it's hard for you to be part of the crowd because you're also active in social media.
17:58Yes, also, yeah, sikat-sikat.
17:59Sikat-sikat, no?
18:00Yeah.
18:01So, how different is Fathersome online and Fathersome offline?
18:08Yeah, so, good question.
18:10I love your questions today.
18:11Very fun.
18:12So, that's great.
18:14You know, I love your question because recently, so for the past couple months, I've been telling myself that I need to make the Father Sam, the online Father Sam, and the not online Father Sam, a little bit more similar.
18:28Because I think when I started out, it was normal.
18:31I was very excited.
18:32I saw the videos that were going viral.
18:35And I saw that, you know, people were very impressed that I could speak Cebuano, that I was also very kind of joyful.
18:41I have a smiling face.
18:43And it's normal that people like that.
18:45And so, I kind of, I guess, allowed myself to have that kind of persona, which is partly true of who I am.
18:53But I'm trying to, little by little, in the content that I make, slowly start shifting to the real me, I guess, which is hard to do.
19:03But which is a little bit more, not like serious, but I guess more like profound as well.
19:09I'm a people person.
19:10I love to, I'm very, you know, tabian.
19:12I like to talk.
19:13I like to interact.
19:14I have a big smile.
19:15But I also like to, yeah, have more, more deeper reflections, things that, not just, not just touching the emotions of people, but touching the hearts of people, I think is where I have, for me, that's where my gift is.
19:29And so, I'm trying to hone in a little bit more on that gift to say, no, you know, people need to hear things that go to the heart and not just entertain.
19:39So, that's where I'm trying to slowly, you know, merge the two.
19:44So, I am from a generation, pre-social media, and post, not post, because it's still ongoing, and with social media.
19:55But I think it's also different, especially for our young viewers, who were really born into social media.
20:03So, they have not seen the world before social media.
20:06So, how do you think social media is also shaping this world, in terms of how they relate, I mean, how do they view relationships, and how they relate to others?
20:19Yeah, that's a question that I think about a lot, because of my work as a social media content creator, but also as a youth minister, you know, so I kind of have the two.
20:29And what I, I try to look at things in a pretty positive light, actually, a little bit different from a lot of people.
20:39I know that there is negative things, like, yeah, we could say social media can make us, let's say, we look at things, we get jealous of what people post, and there's, you know, we can waste time, and there's negative things.
20:51But what I've noticed is that the youth, the ones who kind of grew up with this, they really do have a natural kind of sense, I think it's because it's what they grew up with, of how to use it for good, as well.
21:05For example, I go, sometimes I wish I could do it more, doing TikTok lives, I just have a live, I say, ask me any question, and I just, you know, have conversations back and forth with the youth.
21:18And I am so impressed about how, how sometimes how deep, how personal, how profound the things that youth share to me are on TikTok, not to compare generations, you know, but I think we often, me, I didn't really see that side of the youth before I started making it a point to minister to them online, like to say, no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna really try to make sure that they have a space where they can, where they can, you know, learn about God and learn about mental health.
21:48And this kind of thing. And so for me, that's, yeah, there's, there's quite a bit of negative, but I truly, I really try to take what's good with it too. And to, and to, and to let that shine, you know, to be like, no, this is, it is also how they live so much of their friendships, you know, through gaming, through TikTok, through, you know, chat. And for us, I mean, for me, I'm kind of in between the two. But it can be, it can be kind of strange, like, really, like, kind of good day, like, my friends days at Facebook. And yeah, like, actually, they, it seems that they have
22:18not even met personally, you know, yeah, I have youth like that, like, and they have
22:22their, they have, like, their Facebook group that they make, and they, like, know each
22:27other, and only meet each other, you know, after a couple months or even years, they meet
22:31each other, and it's, like, they're already good friends. I'm like, wow, amazing, no? Like,
22:35like, generation, no? And then that's also good, no? Because we get to hear more about how social media
22:42can be leveraged, no? For something that is good. The other side said, and that's also
22:48something that we are, you know, trying to influence in the media, is because when you
22:56look at social media, there's also the tendency to be polarized, because the algorithm would
23:03tend to feed where you like, you know? So, what are your thoughts, especially for also,
23:11kind of our viewers, on how we can leverage social media to create communities and not
23:19divide communities? Yeah, that's a really big challenge, I think, and I think for me, that's,
23:26you really point out, I think, the number, for me, the number one danger with social media.
23:31When you're on your phone, all alone, you can look at whatever you want, think whatever you
23:36want, and it's very, it's very hard to, to have a mind, especially, which is, which is open
23:41to learning, and not just accepting or listening to what you want, right? It's, it's very hard.
23:48I think that, I think that the church, especially, I mean, me speaking, you know, as a, as a religious,
23:53as a, has, has a very big responsibility to play on that, because the church, naturally,
24:00I mean, the family of God, especially the Catholic church, is, we really see ourselves as a community,
24:05right? It's not just like, oh, I go to church to receive a sacrament, to receive communion and go
24:09home. I mean, in its, what it is, is the family of God, where we meet people, where we struggle
24:17together, where we listen to each other. And I can't really say that I, I hope that the church will
24:23continue to use what's good in social media, right? In order to bring people back into that community.
24:30For me, even for my own mission, it's not like the video is not the end. Like, you know, youth can
24:35watch my video, people can watch my video, but my goal in doing all of this is that they not just
24:41come back to Jesus, but that they find communities, you know, where they can, where they can live out
24:46their faith, live out their life in a happy way. How about on, in the context also of showing
24:54perfection? So how can the, the young people, especially those who grow up with social media,
25:02still be able to stay authentic, you know, and, and be able to develop real friendships?
25:14Yeah. Yeah. That's good. I think there's a, there's a big difference between an influencer
25:22and a role model and our youth today, they need role models. And I think that's, what's going to
25:30help them to be authentic. You know, I think a lot of times not to, not to bash on any, I mean,
25:35me and myself, I'm an influencer, right? Uh, influencers can be so, uh, seemingly very far away,
25:42right. Oh, I can never be like that person, you know, Oh, father, Sam aspirational. Yeah. Very,
25:47which is, which, which has its role, which is good. But I think what the youth are really looking
25:52for and what they really need is people, not just content creators, content creators as well, but,
25:56you know, people around them who they can say, I want to be like that person. I want to learn from
26:02that person. And that person has like the time to, to be with me, uh, to love me. And that I think is
26:10what allows people to grow in authenticity. I can say that for my own life as well. I mean,
26:15for me, what, what allowed me to be authentic as a priest, as a brother of St. John in my community
26:20were the elder priests that were in my seminary, you know, and the friends that I have, uh, yeah,
26:27I learned stuff online, but I learned how to live through community for sure. Yeah. And then the,
26:33the positive side also with being young at this age and time, it's also because there's just so many,
26:41so much opportunities. Yeah. And so much possibilities. Yeah. So whenever somebody would ask for your
26:50advice, because we only have 24 hours in a day and eight hours. Yeah. So what, how would you normally
27:00advise them to be able to sift through the many opportunities and many possibilities for them
27:08to focus on what just matters and the rest, I'm sorry, I'll just have to pass. Yeah. It's hard to say
27:15no. It is so hard, right? Yeah. But no, I'd say that, um, uh, I always tell people the greatest thing
27:22that we're going to do in our life is love. That's the greatest thing we will ever do. Uh,
27:28and living for that is what's going to make us happy. And, uh, and so knowing, knowing how to
27:36live out that vocation to love, it's really a calling, right? And we're all called to, to be
27:41like Jesus, to love like Jesus. And for me, that's, it makes life so simple and so beautiful. If we look
27:46at it that way, like even every day, like have I loved today? Uh, who did I love today? How did I
27:52show love today? Uh, and if we, I think if we live like that, we, life is so much better. Like
27:57it's cause there's, there's so many things that we could be that we can, you know, we, that we could
28:01be calm. And, and that's great to have dreams and, you know, hopes, but like me personally, like when,
28:06when I, when I die, I will die someday. I really hope that what people will say when they visit my
28:13dead body is not, for example, ah, father Sam, he was so famous on social media. Like,
28:19oh, like father Sam, he, he wrote this book. Oh yeah. He had so many projects. Wow. He's very
28:23talented. No, what I really hope they will say is that man loved me. That man loved me. And I think
28:29that if we live our life like that, striving for that moment when someone can feel that love, uh,
28:37that's what makes life beautiful, I think. And that's what people need too, you know?
28:41Yeah. So speaking of love, yeah. Okay.
28:44Yeah. Okay.
28:44Yeah. Okay.
28:46Sometimes people would say, ah, they're going into relationships way too early, you know,
28:51compared to people my time or people my generation. So what do you think are the qualities that they
29:01should look for, for them to find really kind of the real kind of love or the real kind of friendships?
29:13That's nice. You know, what's, what's interesting is that in our gospel today that we have for the mass,
29:18uh, Jesus, he talks about how God loves, um, tax collectors and stuff like that, you know,
29:25and the reason why he does that is because he says that they're capable of change there. These
29:32people are capable of changing. And I was, I was thinking to myself, like, to come back to your
29:37question, like, if we're looking for the right person to love, or if we want to love, there's
29:42always this need to change. There's always a need to change when we love. We, when we love, we change
29:48ourself, we adapt, we, you know, we, we, we find time, we change who, not like change who we are, but,
29:55you know, change to become better, always change to become better. And I think if you find someone
30:00who, dating advice, friendship, friendship, but yeah, because some of them, they have 4,000 friends.
30:10Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's the, that's a real mark of someone who, I mean, not that they
30:16like adapt to you in every way, but that both of you, it's a good friendship, but both of you are,
30:21are on the road to changing for good, you know, not just like using one another or something like
30:27that. You know, you're not just with someone because they make you feel good or because they
30:30have this talent that makes you feel, I don't know, appreciated, but it's that this person is
30:34challenging you to change, uh, to become a better version of who you are. And I think that's a,
30:39that's a beautiful way to speak of love. I think actually correct me if I'm wrong now,
30:43but I, I seem to capture what you also said. Some people, they would also ask for my thoughts
30:52and I also have two nephews, no, and they're adolescents, at least now they're, they have
30:57grown up. Okay. And normally, I would be able to tell if it's the right friendship or if
31:04it's the right love relationship. Yeah. If I see both of them becoming better. Yeah. Yeah.
31:13It's going down. It's going down. It's going down. Or, or, or, they go into vices.
31:22Yeah. But regardless of what's the background, I don't care that much. As long as when I get to seeing, uh,
31:34when the friends are together, I get to see them becoming better, better people. Yeah. Yeah. I think
31:41that's a real, that's a really important thing for anyone, any age. It's like, who do I, because our
31:46time is precious. No. It's like, who am I giving my time to? Uh, who am I letting myself be influenced
31:53by? Uh, and a lot of that, cause we're so, we're relational beings, my good, you know, as much as we
31:59love our cell phones, we're relational beings. And so the people who we are with change us, right? I mean,
32:04so much. So. And then the other thing today, Father, what are your thoughts also about how our
32:10viewers, no? Some of them, if they happen to struggle of achieving closeness, okay? Like, for example,
32:19what I said earlier, they have 4,000 friends, they have 3,500 friends, but at least some people I know,
32:27they're not close to the 3,500. Yeah. So how can, with an environment like this, how can they sift
32:35through the 4,000 and be able to develop closeness, no? The good closeness. Yeah. Yeah. That's a,
32:44that's a great question. And I think it's different for, I mean, not to just like avoid the question,
32:48but like every person has their own life story as well, right? So like if you're, I mean, this is,
32:54yeah, like if someone has a difficult time entering into, you know, friendships or choosing
32:58friendships, it could be for many different reasons, right? But I think it's a, it's a question
33:04of coming back to, you know, to love as well, being willing to, to sacrifice. I think one thing that we
33:10get so afraid of when we enter into friendships, at least in my case, is that friendships also make us
33:16very vulnerable, very vulnerable. When we are close to someone, they get to see our bad side.
33:24And that's not... And you get to participate also in there. Yeah. Yeah. And you have to be patient
33:30with yourself, patient with them. It's not always fun, really. Even a very good friend. I mean,
33:37we're all imperfect, right? And so maybe, you know what? I'm thinking out loud here. Maybe a lot of
33:43what it is, is it's about bringing our expectations down, you know, bringing our expectations down about
33:49like what friendship is. Like maybe this isn't going to be this incredibly amazing friendship
33:55that's going to fill my heart in an amazing way. Because really only, only God can really fill our
33:59hearts, right? And I mean, we need to love. We're called to love. But it's not going to be people that
34:05will fill my heart. So maybe there's an expectation that needs to come down a little bit. And maybe also
34:10expectation with ourself, right? Like, I might not be a perfect friend. But that's also okay.
34:16We're on a journey. There might be times when I will hurt people. And that's never fun. But at least
34:22I can pick myself up after that time and say sorry, and learn and move forward. And it's like,
34:28we practice that little by little. Yeah. Actually, thank you also, no, because I'm in my generation,
34:37when there was no social media. But they would always say, we don't have to believe in the
34:42standards that the movies would show. Because this is just one hour or an hour and a half
34:48of a person's life. Yeah, it's very speed up.
34:50So that means you don't get to see the real side, only the good parts. And now that you brought
34:57that up, because in social media, there's also a lot of reels and a lot of photos. And they
35:02capture moments, not necessarily life. The life. Yeah. So I would agree.
35:09The standard of expectation from what we see on the real. And then, the real life
35:14seemed to be, what is it?
35:15You know, someone, yeah, sorry, someone else, someone I'll, I'll tell you about who I think
35:21can teach us this is actually what's perfect Christmas time is St. Joseph. You know, I've,
35:26I've been so struck with his story and how, how when we read his story at Christmas, like
35:32what he went through, he, he had to encounter in a very concrete way his, his imperfections
35:39actually, like, just imagine, like, you know, he, he didn't find the place in the inn.
35:49He would have wanted something better. He would have wanted something better. He had
35:54to protect Mary, you know, when they did the flight into Egypt, he had actually so many
35:59difficult things happen to him in his friendship with even with Jesus himself. We might think
36:05like, Oh, like when, when Joseph, like welcomed the baby Jesus, it was so amazing and everything.
36:10Like, it was really hard for him. And I think he can teach us a lot. Like if the youth, for
36:16example, I know that we, that I, I, I try to challenge them to read the Bible. Right. And
36:20just things like that, like reading a story about St. Joseph, it can teach us so much about
36:25like, okay, that's really what friendship is. Like he, he chose to stay faithful to Mary
36:32throughout all of that, all of the difficulties that happened in his life. He chose to be patient
36:38with himself when he couldn't find that place for Jesus. And like, yeah, I was, I'm, I'm very
36:43touched by his story this Christmas as well. Yeah. And speaking of Christmas, which is also what
36:50this season is, no, what in, in your opinion, no, what is this time of the year about? Yeah. Okay.
36:59As I'm, we associate it with year-end parties, there are bands, there are artists, and then
37:05then Chris Kringle, something fun, something soft, which are also fun activities. Which is
37:11great. Which is really fun. Which is great. Which is really fun. I'm excited for my gifts.
37:13Yeah. Excited.
37:16But at the heart of this all, what is, what are these really about? Yeah. Yeah. I like, yeah,
37:26because, you know, we can, we can get so pressured, and not just with life, but I think
37:31especially around Christmas time. I was driving, I went to somewhere to buy a gift. As in traffic,
37:38IOD, everyone is very busy trying to find their gift. Asking pila. Super, oh my goodness,
37:43we can get more stressed, we can get more stressed, we can get more stressed, right? But for me,
37:48the, what I love about Christmas, even though it's so hard to live it this way, is Christmas
37:54teaches us that simplicity is the way to go. Being simple, like living a simple life. Yeah, there are
38:05lots of Christmas parties that we do, which is fun, right? I'm not saying that's bad. There's,
38:09we can buy gifts, that's very, very good. But actually, you know, I was very touched this year,
38:13our Archbishop of Cebu, is he Bishop Abedba? He's a, he's a friend of mine also, and he, he, he,
38:20he told us that we should celebrate Christmas this year, especially in light of all of that's happened
38:26in Cebu, you know, the Bagiontino, and Linog, everything, that we should celebrate it simply. And I was
38:33thinking like, at first I was like, oh, Cy Young. And then actually was like, well, you know what,
38:39that's what Christmas is all about. I mean, bringing us back to this, like,
38:44even what we love to contemplate this image of the manger, you know, Jesus, who chose a bed of straw,
38:51instead of a nice palace, Joseph and all of his weakness, who stayed faithful to his family, Mary,
38:57who accepted to be led by Saint Joseph, and who's a very imperfect man, you know, like all of this kind of
39:01stuff, everything led up to this simple moment when they were with Jesus, who was God, who had come
39:10into their incredibly simple hidden life, a life which is not seen on social media, you know, if, if they
39:16had social media at that time, probably, I'm sure not, I'm sure whether you even post post about,
39:21you know what, Jesus is coming, whether I'm ready or not, and he's coming, whether I'm perfect or not,
39:38and like, oh, you know, it takes off the pressure a lot. I mean, for me, at least.
39:42And then, and then in the Philippines, we also have traditions that are also passed from generation to
39:51to generation. Yeah. Which part of this tradition you think we should hold on to and we should not
39:58lose? I, I love the, so, okay, the Misa de Gallio, all of the preparations that we have,
40:04um, I love the fervor that we have here in the Philippines to sacrifice. I think it's very
40:12beautiful. For me, I noticed very strongly in my youth, in many churches here, that love, that living,
40:20you know, offering ourself, there's always really an element of like, I have to feel it. Like, you know,
40:26like, let's do this. I woke up at, you know, 3.30 or whatever. Uh, or like staying up late at night to
40:37put the Christmas decorations up at church or going that extra mile to, you know, find that gift for
40:43someone. Uh, there's so much, like, sacrifice involved in that love. And I think there could be,
40:49let's say, there could be a negative side, like, oh, we're so busy, we're so overwhelmed,
40:53and this kind of thing. But I think that we need to keep that actually. I think that we need to keep
40:57that. Um, not in a stressful way, but to make that into the way that we love, you know? Like,
41:05I'm gonna make this Christmas time, it might be busy in a negative way, right? But it's also where
41:12I'm gonna, I'm gonna give myself in love. I'm gonna wake up early for Jesus. Um, I'm gonna do all that
41:19I can to make sure I find that meaningful gift. Uh, it's not gonna be perfect. I'm gonna be very
41:24tired. You know, I'm gonna be very stressed or whatever. But, but that's, that's even in that
41:28busyness, we can find the simplicity of, of love. Like, it all comes down to the greatest thing we'll
41:35do when our life is love. Yeah, no? Well, they say it's, it's as easy and as complicated. It is,
41:42of course. As love, no? Yeah. Now, the other thing that I remember, I said to you at a Christmas party,
41:48that's also like, you had dance presentations. Yeah, yeah. And then, I would, and I would always,
41:54you know that you can cause friction. Ah, yes. And whenever I am in that situation, I would always remind
41:59them, you know, it's so hard to get your hands out. Yeah, exactly. So if it's so hard to get away,
42:07then that's not the way to go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's always an opportunity to, you know,
42:11it's funny how like, in all of this beauty that we have. Because they'll get away from the choreography.
42:15Oh, yeah, yeah. There's a lot of tension. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's totally true.
42:24Oh, yeah. There's always, I think there's always that possibility to make something beautiful,
42:29very quickly into something that's not so nice for us if we don't we're not mindful yeah yeah if
42:35we're not if we're not doing it for love as well doing it like um if we're you know preparing a
42:39dance for our company's christmas party and that kind of thing or whatever for the church etc
42:44uh yeah there can be tensions and as well but i like i said i think for the philippines here we
42:49have something so beautiful of like this element of sacrifice and love and maybe it's it's something
42:55that we have to try our very best to safeguard it's like no this is beautiful like let's not let's not
43:03like look at this we're making this beautiful dance and like sure
43:09this is also our way of offering something we're making well hopefully we will we will make someone
43:14smile uh and even that like okay you know yeah and what are your thoughts father can you
43:20be serious what are your thoughts also when some people would say
43:33sure yeah what are your thoughts about that yeah um my thought about that is of course that it's not true
43:42but um i think it's because a lot of people unfortunately and me included right we often don't
43:48really understand what it means to to believe actually to have faith uh one thing that i love
43:55to tell the way that i live it myself is um a lot of times when i am going through doubts of faith
44:02or whatever i'll come back to the to the bible actually to the word of god um it's something that
44:07unites like all christians right of all beliefs it's something that we it's so it's such a gift from
44:13god the bible and like so coming back for example to saint joseph uh who i've been thinking a lot
44:18about this year for me he makes life and faith so relevant because like okay we have all of our
44:26young generation who are you know let's say very stressed or whatever with christmas all of us as
44:30well who are super stressed if you read the story of saint joseph you're like oh my gosh this guy went
44:35through the exact same thing like well that night of course he was the foster father of jesus but like
44:43there are so many similarities with his story um he had people perhaps judging him and the lipos
44:52yeah i mean he yeah among the characters the christmas works
44:58yeah or something like that you know but his life is so amazing and it's like when you really try to like
45:05go beyond just the exterior okay like oh i you know faith is about only about being a good person
45:12okay that's part of it that's part of it but that's not the real essence of what it is um or you know
45:18faith is about you know going to mass every sunday that's very important we need to go to mass every
45:22sunday but that's it's in order to make us live something incredible amazing and if we just see that
45:28what are gonna be done outside of the circle if we don't peel open the fruit we won't taste the beauty of it
45:34and for me going back to the scriptures uh every day as much as i can reading that i see more and
45:40more that like wow god has so much to say to us today so much to say uh yeah for i mean saint joseph
45:48is just one example of how like he went through really dark times and precisely in that moment when
45:54god came into his life right i mean like he received the baby jesus and his all of his plans were destroyed
46:01i mean how many people today feel like that you know oh i had a plan to be like this i wanted to
46:06do this i had this plan and oh god destroyed my plan so now he's not faithful to me anymore it's like
46:12wait a minute wait wait a minute wait a minute this happened to saint joseph as well like look at this
46:17he's um he was thinking to have a nice cute little life with the virgin mary destroyed young plan he
46:22became the foster father of god he thought everything would go well destroyed because king
46:26herod wanted to kill his baby you know death threat dude's young oh my gosh you know it's crazy
46:32his life was really was really nuts yeah and then quality last night is a serious question
46:37yeah yeah what about okay kind of like in during the holiday season there's always that festive kind of vibe
46:46around no yeah but some people they also go through i'll start with one night they go through kind of
46:53heartache and then the other thing put on the lighter no not lighter even uh heartache and then the other
47:00side is kind of they went through earthquake they went through kind of flood and then everybody around
47:07them seems to be festive but for some reason they are not in that spirit no they're not feeling the vibe
47:16at all yeah what are your thoughts about how they can reclaim the hope in at this particular moment when
47:26everybody's rejoicing except them yeah that's really hard no i think every christmas is different
47:33as well um i think sometimes we have christmases where we feel the vibe it's amazing we feel the
47:41blessings of god something incredible happened in our lives you know many things can happen i'm
47:45looking on promotion you know beautiful things happen we feel it and there's other times when
47:50because of the difficult things that we're going through like i i imagine many people watching this
47:54episode perhaps no there went through difficulties with uh you know baguio lino and everything like
48:00we can we can say and honestly and that's okay to say that you know what this christmas is not quite
48:06like the other ones this year for me uh it's not quite as joyful it's not quite as exteriorly exciting
48:12uh it's not quite what i expected it to be um but the heart of it can still stay there at the heart
48:18of it can still stay there and that's there that's your choice actually i mean it's your choice it's like
48:24are you gonna choose that you're gonna live christmas and accept and to believe that no
48:29one can take that away from you i mean god is coming into your life that's what we celebrate
48:34on christmas no matter who we are and it's up to us to say yes to that to say yes no matter what it
48:42looks like whether it looks like uh you know we an earthquake came and ruined our house or not uh we
48:49can always say you know what jesus thank you for being here thank you for accepting this situation
48:56where i'm in right now where where i've perhaps lost faith in you a little bit where my faith is shaken
49:02where i see so many people suffering around me and i don't know what's going on
49:06but you're here thank you for being here and sometimes that's what's going to make christmas
49:13beautiful and okay lighter side of things when you when you when you when you
49:22christmas experiences whether in cebu or in the u.s that make you smile
49:27what are you doing
49:32good
49:33what are you doing
49:33what are you doing
49:34that's what i'm thinking
49:34i'm not thinking when you're worried that you're going to get tired
49:35my thoughts
49:36you're going to make you feel like
49:37which one is
49:38was there any particular
49:39what are you doing
49:40what do you call it
49:41what are you calling it
49:42what are you calling it
49:42what are you calling it
49:43that you were convinced to do to dance myself yes no but I like watching
49:55others do it no because actually I think it's partly because I know that I don't
49:59have that talent mmm that I love to watch others do it like and I mean
50:03Filipinos you guys are so good at dancing you know and we have the Sinalog
50:06coming up next month which is like my favorite month of the whole year right
50:09so but I think the Christmas at Christmas parties I'm thinking especially of
50:13like we have scholars you know little elementary students high school
50:17students and just seeing them they're not professional dancers but they're so
50:22sweet and that gives me so much joy that youthfulness and what about can the
50:28young people like me young people do these days that make you shake your head
50:32in a good way in a good way shake your leg you know one thing okay this is also
50:38funny though this is also funny you know kind of it on some messenger you can
50:43write your little note diva kind of notes or on Instagram you have your profile
50:47picture and there's a note for me sometimes I because I'll you know read I
50:50I love my youth so much and sometimes I'll read them can be done with my vent
50:54vent months you know you know so social media and at the same time I laugh and at
50:58the same I laugh with the like you said you know oh my gosh invent inventing about
51:03you know oh I did not sleep for the last you know four days or blah blah blah you
51:16know something like that like oh my gosh you guys are so funny now if there's one
51:23one lesson sure whether it's a Christmas lesson or whether it's a life lesson that
51:30you wish our viewers or even me you know would carry for the rest of 2026 wow what
51:40would that be life lesson mm-hmm or Christmas lesson yeah but you know you go
51:45a dj no it will get you through 2026 wow something that will get you through 2026 mm-hmm okay um be
51:57easy on yourself yeah be easy on yourself I think for me that's the big one speaking
52:02first to myself huh me I I'm very I'm a person with all you know why let's say I
52:08have lots of followers on social media I do lots of things it's so easy for me to put
52:13pressure on myself so easy to do that and I think what will get me and that's
52:18why I'm sharing this to you and to our viewers through 2026 is knowing that life
52:25the life that we have right now is such a blessing the fact that we're alive on
52:30this earth loving people being here is so beautiful and we can be happy because of
52:38that you know we can we can be like wow I'm alive thank God and to take some
52:43pressure off yourself as well I think I don't like I said very it's very hard to
52:48do well I'm I'm the worst I know out of all of you and I'm I'm a worser and then
52:59finally if there's one emotion that you would pray now that the viewers including
53:06myself would be with me not just this season but all year round what would be
53:13that feeling gratitude yeah gratitude I think it's not easy once again
53:19everything I'm saying is not so easy to live but gratitude it heals our hearts so
53:25much and always I think it's something that will we always know that it will
53:30heal our hearts in some way like it's it's almost like a little medication you
53:34can always take that'll always make your day better discover that that spirit of
53:40gratitude even just the very very simple things yummy coffee in the morning
53:45wow I drank three in one I drank coffee, thank you oh my gosh you know the gratitude
53:50but you see the the weather is beautiful you see someone smile you see in your
53:56children and your spouse and your family and just like letting that letting all
54:01this goodness that's around us this thing to think especially this year now we've
54:04gone through so much letting us soak in this goodness and claiming it for
54:09ourselves like to say no look at this look at this beauty around me my life is
54:15beautiful this despite of all the things that I'm going through yeah gratitude
54:19and before we let you go father sure maybe you'd like to tell our viewers
54:23about how they can someone catch you catch me
54:30where can they they can follow you or where they can see or hear more of you
54:36yeah sure so um I'll tell you about so I I my favorite thing I wanted to let you
54:41know about is I have you know a a daily reflection that I give on it's it's
54:46actually it's an app it's called halo it's a spelled so for the viewers is
54:50spelled h-a-l-l-o-w and I I give a daily reflection on the gospel every day it's
54:56in English as well and then for the other things so on Facebook page Father Sam my
55:02tick-tock you know Father Sam not tick-tock and then I also have you know
55:06Instagram and YouTube in English those two so yeah I hope to see you there be
55:10fun and father the reason why I was actually going through my social media
55:14because we have you have some fans now and they see Annalyn I see Annalyn
55:20Karali oh Vito and then she said bossing oh cute
55:23Annalyn shout out Annalyn and then she edits my videos yeah she edits some of my
55:29videos yeah
55:32the other one is from Nora Beck Floralde Tababa good afternoon Father Sam oh my
55:47happy and then see JN Albino Moreno hello JN ship chaser oh sheep chaser yeah that's my
55:53Facebook name yeah or Instagram that's my that's my English brand name ah okay
55:58JN Paes oh and then see and drew Andrew yes I'm like and drew no yes ship chaser is
56:06see Burt Lakre wala they wake up early for Jesus
56:11I'm own friend but I'm not a problem he was like public in news now you are on the
56:18news bird you did not wake up anyway and then from Christopher God bless you
56:25Father Sam thank you for sharing your word of God and from Andrew Steele
56:32I always support ko sa akong boss aww and then si JN idol dude kaayo si Padre Sam
56:38basa mga comments good JN Paes oh and thank you Father Sam from JLP and and from Burt
56:46wana get the more I read you know the more they also they also send messages so shout out
56:52Father Sam and then oh this is from Mitch and and he's a good friend oh really Mitch Alforque and he says na Fads you should
57:01hey Mitch yeah you should invite DJ for Alpha what's any frat I'll tell you about it
57:06oh okay
57:06oh yeah
57:07he's your friend yeah my gosh yeah we're good friends guys thank you for thank you for watching everyone my gosh ka sweet eh that's so fun
57:15yeah so I think uh we just have to to to wrap up this conversation Father but I truly I truly have a great time and I'm
57:25excited to I'm hopeful nga this is not the the only nor the last one but we will have
57:30but we will have yeah yeah conversation special mag Valentine's na sad right what are you
57:34oh yes again no so I think there's there's there's a I can oh chica
57:38and yes as we wrap up this conversation we are reminded that Christmas is more than lights gifts and celebration it is about connection it is about hope it is about love and the acts of kindness that make life
57:58make life meaningful thank you Father Sam for sharing your time your wisdom and your heart with us thank you DJ thank you so much and I'm DJ Moises and from all of us here at the studio to our viewers may your Christmas be filled with joy love and moments that truly matters happy holidays
58:19we'll see you next time
58:49we'll see you next time
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