The first edition of the Cebu Metropolitan Catholic Mass Media Awards took place on 30 September 2024 in Philippines. Among the many categories represented: television, radio, print and digital media, Brother Samuel Mary, alias Father Sam, won the award for Best Social Media Influencer.

Father Sam’s testimony following his victory

“If anyone had told me when I entered the Brothers of Saint John that I would end up being a social media influencer in the Philippines I surely would have laughed in disbelief. Impossible!

One thing I’ve discovered at the heart of my vocation is that God has a way of bringing his disciples out towards the peripheries in ways we would never imagine. For me, this has taken the form of an exciting and surprising adventure into the digital world.

My journey started in March 2022 when I posted a video of me giving a simple reflection on the Sunday Gospel in Cebuano* on TikTok. At the time I thought, “TikTok is all about dancing and doing stupid stuff in front of a camera… but why not give it a try, right?” To my surprise, this video went viral and got over 200k views in just two days. I couldn’t believe it! What surprised me even more than the number of views was that people, especially the youth, were drawn to this simple and authentic content about God and the Gospel. No fancy editing, no dancing, no challenges, only a young American priest speaking Cebuano and talking about Jesus.

I had been experimenting with evangelization on social media for a few years already but the potential I saw for evangelization in Cebuano after several viral videos left me and my brothers with a firm conviction that I had to make this one of my principal apostolates.

My current mission is to reach out especially but not only to youth who are far from the Church and who are too afraid to come back before many of their questions about Faith are frankly spoken of. The Philippines is a culturally Catholic country but the youth often find themselves torn between what they perceive as a shallow devotional expression of Faith of their parents and grandparents and the ideologies of the Western world. These youth naturally turn to social media looking for answers to their often deep questions and that’s where I try to be a listening ear and an encouraging voice for them.

After two years of work, I currently have almost 250k followers on TikTok, 224k followers on Facebook, and am beginning to grow a YouTube channel. I also started a podcast called “Bros Unscripted” where Br. Jerome and I are co-hosts. Almost all of the content I post is short-form video content (between 1-3 minutes) where I speak about topics related to the Faith in a relatable and light way. I hope to branch out into long-form content in YouTube, be more organized in the content I make, and reach out to overseas Filipino workers through online recollections and sessions.

Besides the frequent encounters with followers who love to take “selfies” when they see me after Church, in the supermarket, or on the street, I have made many new friends and connections through invitations to preach parish recollections and giving talks at major youth events both inside and outside the Archdiocese of Cebu. Youth have also found their way back to the Church through the apostolates of our priory which they end up visiting after watching my videos. I have made friendships with other content creators around the Philippines and have been blessed with their guidance, ideas, and collaboration.

My apostolate has been very well received and supported not only by my brothers but also the local Church. I was recently given the “Best Social Media Influencer” award at the Cebu Metropolitan Catholic Mass Media Awards. This award was part of a series of awards covering anything from journalism and books to television shows and websites. It covered the territory of ten different dioceses that make up the Cebu Metropolitan region.

A valuable lesson I have learned from being an “influencer” is that this type of work is much more difficult, time-consuming, and frustrating than I imagined. There is such a strong image of famous influencers having lots of money and easy lives but experience has shown me otherwise. Dealing with negative comments, making almost nothing through monetization, and the constant process of trial and error has left me wondering many times if all this work was really worth the effort. Finding a balance between keeping up with trends, knowing what my followers are looking for, and improving the quality of my content while keeping a healthy distance from the digital world isn’t always easy. Despite all the challenges I firmly believe that the mission to evangelize with social media is something that we youth or “digital natives” must take extremely seriously. I hope to encourage and even accompany many more content creators in the future.

I confide this apostolate to your prayers!”

* Cebuano is an Austronesian language spoken in the southern Philippines by around 16 million Filipinos in some of the Visayas islands and certain provinces of Mindanao.

Follow Father Sam

YouTube channel

On Facebook

On TikTok

People often say that the Philippines is a culturally Catholic country and, thanks be to God, that’s true! In the same breath, people will often say how difficult it is to pass on the Faith to the young generation. “Lahi ang mga batanon karon!” This is also true. But here’s the question: do we get discouraged by this or see it as an exciting challenge every generation faces to find new ways of sharing the power of the Gospel with our youth?

As you know, the youth love feeling accepted in a community apart from their family. They love finding a “safe space” where they can be themselves without fear of being judged. They need to explore and make new friends! But what if meeting new friends could go hand-in-hand with discovering Jesus? It’s definitely possible!!

We, the Brothers of Saint John present in the heart of Cebu City, have found that the Alpha Youth Series is a well-adapted program for the youth and a way to make any community grow and discover the joy of the Gospel. It’s a series of fun, interactive sessions designed to create conversations where anyone can come to explore the basics of Christianity in a way that is authentic and safe.

Imagine youth playing games, asking deep questions, sharing with their peers about the struggles of life and faith… well, that’s Alpha! Simply put, it’s a safe space for the youth to discover what Faith really is: It’s not about simply following the traditions of their grandparents but about discovering a relationship that can change everything they are, their impact on this world, and the rest of their lives.

We are currently running our 5th batch of the Alpha Youth Series. Every Sunday evening for a bit more than two months we welcome around 30 participants and 15 youth volunteers to our priory. We invite them for praise and worship before the 5:30pm Sunday Mass. Then we proceed with a tasty meal, a game, then divide them into small groups before watching the Alpha video for that week.

We have witnessed powerful transformation in many of the youth who have attended the Alpha sessions and we hope to invite many more! Most of them come from our neighborhood area and a good number of them had stopped practicing their Faith before they found us. These youth have been revitalized in their faith and even become leaders themselves on Alpha.

Thanks be to God for all the work he is doing in this beautiful city. Let’s continue to pray for the youth, the leaders of today and most especially of tomorrow.

A few hours after Brother Charles and Brother James pronounced their first vows on 15 March, strict confinement was announced in Cebu. Very few cases of COVID 19 had been diagnosed, but the epidemic was already significantly present in Manila. A large section of the population in the Philippines live on a daily wage, which meant that confinement very quickly became problematic for poor families who have no income or savings. With the help of the friends of the Community, the Brothers decided to try to help their closest neighbours in the barrios in Cebu. The friends of the Community responded very generously and we also received donations from the United States, allowing us to get to work in collaboration with the Apostolic Sisters. We went to the shops and brought back large sacs of vegetables and prepared packets of rice, sugar, lentils, etc., which we distributed to around 130 families for two months. Through this work the families were able to experience God’s Providence, who watches over the poorest of his children. With the encouragement of Sr Mila-Maria, many families are now starting to plant their own vegetable garden.

Foundation of an apostolic priory in Taboan

The Brothers of Saint John are building a new priory in Taboan, Cebu. The name Taboan means “meeting place” and is an area where people mostly come to go shopping – an important place for apostolic work!

Construction work was ready to start when the pandemic put the brakes on the project. Demolition of some of the surrounding walls had already begun in January. The Brothers hope the work can start up again soon, but activity in Cebu is only slowly starting to increase. The priory will be situated in a popular and reasonably populated area, not far from the universities and the old town. It is an accessible place and means we can envisage an apostolic life in conjunction with our life of fraternity and prayer. The current priory in Banawa Hills will remain the noviciate house.

The Brothers confide this project to your prayers and hope they will soon be able to show you work in progress.

Published in French on 12 Febuary, 2020

At the beginning of the month of February, the Priory of the Brothers of Saint John in Cebu, the Philippines, were blessed to be able to welcome brothers from the whole vicariate of Asia and Oceania on the occasion of the Vicariate Meeting.

We should note that the Vicar, Br Justin, was experiencing this “joyful mystery” of the Visitation for the first time! He is, of course, always welcome in Cebu! The superiors from Christchurch (New Zealand), Pondicherry (India) and Taïnan (Taiwan) also came and together they held three days of workshops. It was a beautiful experience of fraternal life and hard work under the benediction of their Archbishop, José S. Palma.

The best way to illustrate their praise and thanksgiving is to share some photos of the occasion!

Published in French on 15 March, 2020.

Brother François-Xavier, Prior General, the Brothers of Saint John and the families of the brothers have the pleasure of announcing the simple professions of Brother James (James Nicholson Gnanathickam) and Brother Charles (Sravan Jumar Basani), which took place on 15 March in the Priory Chapel of Our Lady of the Presentation, in Cebu (the Philippines).

It was a beautiful and joyful celebration, which you can see in the photos and video below.

“We work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.” 2 Cor. 1:24.

This is the theme the brothers chose to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of their presence in the Philippines. They invite you to join them in a prayer of thanksgiving to God, especially on the 20-21 July, 2019.

The Brothers of Saint John founded a priory in Cebu in 1994, at the invitation of His Eminence, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who wanted the brothers to witness to their religious life and charism, to help in the formation of future priests at the seminary and to work with young people.

The brothers moved to Banawa, Guadalupe, in Cebu city, where they built their convent. They very quickly started up a number of missions: activities for young people, a programme of study scholarships and ministry to families, always with a priority for the poorest people living in the region. They also started to teach philosophy in a number of seminaries and institutions.

In 1995 the priory was blessed and in 1999 the church was consecrated. In 2008, a noviciate house was opened to serve the vocations coming from the Philippines and other Asiatic countries. The Brothers of Saint John now have ten Filipino brothers, the majority of whom are still in formation.

Some major projects have been started, motivated by a vision of the city in which there is a space for communion beyond the barriers that seperate people; a space in which people can encounter God, where hope brings forth joy and help to those who most have need. Inspired by this vision, the Brothers want to establish a new house for the mission of the Brothers of Saint John in Cebu.

Our Lady of Mercy

Another anniversary was also recently celebrated in Cebu. Two years ago, on 17 June, 2017, the statue of Our Lady of Mercy was blessed. The brothers offer thanks for the presence of Mary, who is always with them.

The Brothers of Saint John want to ever increasingly serve the youth of Cebu in the Philippines. In the video below some of the young people of Cebu testify to what they have discovered with and received from the Brothers. It is for these young people that the community wants to seize an opportunity to expand their youth ministry.
Watch the video below to discover more about our project to build a place of mission, consisting of a house for young people and a new priory in downtown Cebu.

Visit the website for the Brothers of Saint John in Cebu