commun latest variety o hello. on behalf of the arch diocese of san francisco welcome to mosaic. we know we are living in the age of digital communication which is the latest variety of mass communication. once upon a time mass communication had to be a fixed device, radio, tv in the living room, telephone on the stand. communication is everywhere and constant and endlessly variable. the compact wonderful devices on which we receive communications and send our own are portable and ever present. we have them with us all the time and they're capable of helping with business, education, personal relations, shear entertainment. young people especially we like

to say live on their devices. our guest samantha is a writer, editor, in this realm, a catholic writer and speaker who says if that's where young people are living, that's where we have to reach them. with what? writing, art, beauty, soul. after this brief break, join us as we talk with san francisco's sam anna ye about -- samantha ye about young digital catholics today.

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hello. thank you for joining us on mosaic. our guest today is samantha ye, a native of san francisco, a young woman. i believe she's 24 years old. we've just met and i am so overwhelmed by your resume'. i am not quite sure what your main activity is. you are a writer, an editor, a professional digital entrepreneur. you are a student at uc berkley. can you give me a picture of what you are doing. >> first and foremost, i am a student at uc berkley. i am working on research right now regarding ulysis. beyond that i write, edit, do social media for catholic

organizations, speak to youth groups, college centers. i am kind of all over the place. i write blog posts for various companies. i advise people on how to use instagram and pinterest. >> you consult on social media with people but i notice also you are an excellent writer. looking at your web page it says hi, i'm sam. i write edit and do social media for catholics from foggy san francisco. you have links to various networks of artists, writers. as i click through i am discovering a world that's not known to me too well which is young catholic professional art son writers, and so on on the internet doing what they do in the service of catholic faith. >> yes. >> you seem to be involved with all the people. everyone i mentioned, you are

already working for. >> yeah. it's very interesting to be able to use catholic faith to work with all these different companies. some of the ones listed on my site are the living person, one secret mission, the the catholic woman. i have also worked with just love prince, net ministries. there are all these different groups of catholics that i have been able to work with through the internet because of the gifts that i have. >> i have seen your published poems on some sites. i am sure there is other material that you write. i believe you make your living as a professional writer and editor. you pay your rent and tuition at uc berkley. it sounds like you are an active catholic evangelist or speaker. in a typical day, you mentioned last friday, i said how do you

spend a day, what happens? tell me about last friday. >> oh, yes. last friday, i woke up at 6:00 am and took the bart from berkley to san francisco to meet with seth of 1 billion stories. >> 1 billion stories is? >> he runs a company that makes videos and tells the stories of the 1 billion catholics in the world. he uses both video, instagram, and i think he is moving into pod cast as well, to really help people understand the faith through the eyes of the people who are living it. so we had a little chat. and right after that, i had to take bart back to berkley for my classes and immediately following my classes in the

morning, i had to take amtrak, which is a train from berkley to sacramento, which was a two hour long ride, because i was speaking at the new man center in sacramento to the college students there to talk and share my testimony while they had adoration and praise and worship. after that, i got to talk to a group of catholic mommy bloggers. >> mommy bloggers are what? moms at homeworking on the internet giving their creative endeavors? >> yes. there is this group of catholic moms blogging and talking about how they share their faith with their children and live lit urge clear. -- liturgically.

there is a stereotype of this catholic mom with five children that they take dailmass. it's cool to see how they're living their faith at home in a different way than i am. >> and they're supporting each other. it's interesting because you think of the internet as going to your favorite places and staying in your circle. as i look at what you touch through your internet presence, there is a sort of organic network of catholics doing various things. i notice the photographic or video thing called one secret mission. they had a video about what they do. what is their practice? what do they do with their photographs? >> they basically create this stock photo collection for catholics. >> okay. >> whether that's for churches or various ministries to use on social media or in other capacities so that we have a

resource to eve angela kramer lies the -- evangelize the the faith. >> i haven't heard of one secret mission. here is an interesting thing. they have a video and you wrote the script for their video. oh i don't have it. i was going to read it. here it is. it's very interesting. you combine art century and thee -- artistry and theology. you are an artist. you see things differently. where others see ordinary sunset you see a masterpiece. you bring beauty into an otherwise dark world because you are an artist. it's what you do. you create because you were made in the image and likeness of a creator. you know how to tell stories because you have heard the greatest story ever told. the act of creating speaks to the very core of who you are because he passed the creative spark to you. that's very good writing, very

simple and very effective it seems to me. i believe that people reach out to you when they see your writing to ask you to come help, work, give talks to youth and so on. >> yeah. i feel like i really don't promote myself. i just have personal social media accounts but i somehow get tons of e-mails from companies and organizations who want me to work with them. because i think i capture the catholic essence while providing good communication and good writing. >> i think so too. let's take a brief break and we'll come back and talk more about samantha yee about digital communications today.

(basketball game and crowd sounds) ♪ if you talkin' they will hear you ♪ every single time... why are we getting killed like this? kyle's not here. got caught drinking beer in the park a couple of nights ago. really? yeah. zero tolerance-he's out for the season. harsh. hey, he knew not to drink. we've made that clear to all our kids, right? uh, no... not really. bill, if we don't tell them what we expect and why they shouldn't drink,

how're they gonna know? (announcer) talk. they hear you. for more information, visit underagedrinking.samhsa.gov. our guest today is samantha yee, a san francisco native and writer and editor. we should begin with a bio. i didn't ask you about your up

bringing. >> i have three younger brothers. i was born in san francisco, grew up in the bay area. i don't know what else you want to know. >> you went to high school at? >> notre dame and belmont, an all girls catholic high school. >> you mentioned to me that your mother works for the church in some parish occupation. >> both of my parents work for the church. my father works for the chance refor arch diocese of san francisco and my mother is in the parish level with music. so i grew up where you serve the church. >> very interesting. you lapsed from your faith at a certain point when young in college. >> yes. >> you found what you call a reversion to it. how did that come about? >> yeah. when i first started college at cal, i was really at the place that a lot of young people are where they're trying to figure out who they are and how they

fit into the world. for me, i didn't think faith was going to be part of that. i had just grown up in the church. to me, i had seen a lot of the politics and drama behind the scenes. >> yes. >> so i didn't think that was going to be part of my life. i remember telling people in high school there is no way i am going to be catholic as an adult. >> okay. >> but going in with that mind set into cal, i tended to look for happiness and purpose in all the wrong places and things that were only temporary. i finally found a solid place, a solid place to place my identity through my catholic faith. and i really just ended up reverting because i had gone to a steubenville conference in san diego. >> that's the catholic college

in ohio. >> yes. there were these conferences for high schoolers. i was no longer a high schooler but i credit a lot of my reversion to it because i was exposed to adoration. that was the first time i shared my testimony. because of that, i started to see how the pieces fit together and how god had worked in my life. beyond that, i was connected to all these holy people, young people living their faith. that was not something i had seen before. we would go to in and out late at night and talk about brown scapulars. it's like who are these people? >> there are things for young people, theology on tap is one, you have to be 21 to go in a bar. you developed a young adult set of friend and came back to church. you apparently wanted to write from the age of 5 and had been doing so. >> yeah. >> i know you have testimonials from marketers and people on

your website and you write dynamite ad copy. i have also seen a couple of your poems online. those were striking as well. you seem to have all the tools as a writer. you mentioned adoration. the recent holy week was a spiritual time for you. >> yes. i had the opportunity to play mary in the living stations of the cross. we were basically walking from pier 39 to the square in san francisco. it was this highly trafficked touristy area and i am dressed as mary. there is this guy carrying the cross on good friday. for me, that was a very powerful experience to enter into the passion in that way and to take on the role of mary, to see the crucifixion and passion through her eyes. >> i think that's one of the benefits of drama and theater and performance, embodying the person, embodying mary.

you had that experience. can i ask you to read the poem you wrote. >> of course. i had this poem called a sword pierced heart that was published on good friday at the grott oánet work. >> my sweet boy the fruit of my vine. how could i have known when i was told a sword would pierce this heart of mine. in moments of woe and despair i was there. blood sweat and tears in a garden on the dark night reminded me of a time when i bled and swept for you in the star light. for love i would willingly suffer but to watch you, that's far tougher. the king of the jews they said and placed a crown of thorns upon your head. the first crown you wore was the flesh of my womb, a baby arriving at an inn with no room. when i first carried you you wrapped your hand around my finger, my greatest joy and my

greatest sorrow too. feeling naked except for a piece of cloth on a piece of wood that served as an animal feeding trough. my sweet boy your blood turned to wine, how could i have known when i was told a sword would pierce this heart of mine? how could i have known as you learned to crawl that you would be the salvation of us all? >> that's very nice, really reads and speaks to the reader. that's terrific. >> the connections are between sorrowful mysteries and the birth of jesus. >> the crucifixion, resurrection, and his birth. that's fantastic. you've written instagram posts and other things for catholic groups that want service on the internet and you offer your services. many people want to communicate but don't know how to write,

edit, script, and you do. that's fascinating. you have high art in you as well. can you tell me what your academic research is about? >> oh yeah. my area of expertise is biblical medieval poetry looking at the christian in song of songs but right now i am working on a research project that takes james joyce's ulysis, an awesome writer and poet, and looks at the role of writer as a sort of catholic priest in the act of writing fiction as a consecrating of the sacred. >> okay. writing as a sacred art. that's interesting. with james joyce. >> an interesting fellow. >> we'll talk about that some more. we'll be back in a moment with more with samantha yee and

digital catholicism. girl: don't look at me. second girl: your hair's a bit frizzy today. aw! ha ha! you should pick that up. [girls laugh] oh, you're such a dork. loser. here. let me help you with that. oops! ha ha! announcer: every day, kids witness bullying. oh, look! your crush is looking at you.

[girls laugh] poor you. ha ha! announcer: they want to help but don't know how. bully: see? no one here's gonna help you... announcer: teach your kids how to be more than a bystander. visit stopbullying.gov. hello. welcome back. we are talking about the internet and about young people. samantha, i ride the bart every day and everyone is glued to their mobile device. i wonder often what they're doing. having met you, it's possible that some of the people are looking at their catholic messages and sending messages back and forth. i wanted to talk in general

about the state of the internet and state of young people. you said that's where young people live today. if you want to reach them for good or ill, that's where you reach them. you want to reach them for good. we hear they're addicted to the internet. we hear that they're in their room alone with their favorite materials. what is your view of this tool, this universal tool as you call it? >> i like calling it a universal tool because the word catholic means universal. >> that's true. >> i think social media is a way to expand the universality of the church to connect me to people all over the world. i like to view social media as a place of encounter, a place to meet people where they're at, to really have one on one interactions with them but also to share my heart and be vulnerable and have them do the same. it's just where the people are.

if you think about anything consistent that young people do today, it's they are on social media every day for several hours at a time. that's where they live. that's where they are. >> yes. i think studies, reputable studies have said young people are not reading anymore, not picking up a book, are not good at reading. i sort of expect that if you are looking at copy or content that you are reading every day. do you find you have to make things simple? >> i don't tell myself down. as an academic and scholar, i tend to use big words a lot. i don't tone that down. people are reading it because sometimes they will comment on specific parts of things i have said whether about my own life or my insights on maybe a gospel reading. i know that they're reading it.

i don't think that we have anything to worry about with the young people. they are still taking in good information, and they're still thinking about how they can contribute to the world. they want to do good in the world. we see that so strongly. >> let me ask you this too. surveys or newspaper stories tell me that the practice of religion is diminishing among young people. on the survey they answer they have no religion and so on. what's your view of all that? you seem to be part of an active core of solid catholic people. >> i think there is a whole world on the internet that people have no idea about. there are tons of amazing catholic organizations and ministries that are working to build community online and even in person. one of the ones i love is blessed is she. they work specifically with women. they have reflections on daily mass readings as well as in

person lunch chats. >> and this is based physically somewhere? is it local? >> all over. you can take their blessed issue brunches or lunches anywhere. you can take their bible studies and do that anywhere. i think it's just using the tool of the internet to connect people. >> you have opened me up to several new things. i saw a couple blogs of yours on the catholic woman and i signed up. now i get the news letter from the catholic woman and i know something about catholic women i didn't know before. you are donating your services to many of these people. >> sometimes, yes. >> you are also an organized and i think ambitious professional. it's a very interesting combination of things. let me ask you this, where would you see yourself being in ten years? would you be a teacher,

academic, evangelist? >> i have no idea. wherever god can use my talents i would love to work with people in real life and real ministry. i love relational boots on the ground type of work that happens usually on a parish level. i think you really work with the people and work with children, teens, young adults, and see them progress and grow in the faith. but i also just love the writing part of it. i love media communications. i think that's really how connections are being formed nowadays. in my life, there are so many friends i have made through instagram, so many jobs i got through instagram. it's insane to think about. >> for old buddies like me, would you reassure us that the kids are not wasting their time completely on the inrnet. >> the kids are all right. i think with anything, you have to be prudent and exercise self

control. anything can become an addiction and can be bad for you. i think there are a lot of good things that can come out of social media. from my own experience alone, there are several people who have reached out to me who have told me just reading my facebook and instagram posts has been the reason they started going to mass again. >> you are modest about that. to say your story is interesting but it is not about you. you are conveying to these people something beyond you and they're responding to it. >> there is something way bigger than me. i think even people who don't subscribe to my religious beliefs acknowledge there is something good, wholesome, true about the things i am doing. they're attracted to that and admire that and want some of that. >> wonderful. it's been great to meet you. thank you for coming and talking to us. good luck with your academic work. wherever you wind up, it will be a blessed spot because you are there seriously. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you for joining us on

mosaic. we'll see you next time. led california's fight ofor clean, renewable energy.or he cleaned up pollution at the port of l.a. and created more good-paying jobs. antonio villaraigosa for governor.

news this morning.. a glowing trail of destructive lava... shows no sign of stopping. and a couple who survived the wine country wildfires... is on kpix5 news, a glowing trail of destructive with no sign of stopping. a couple that survived the wildfires is praying their new home in hawaii survives. >> trash detectives can help solve an illegal dumping problem. >> new signs of intensifying standoff between president trump and special counsel in the ongoing russia investigation. later roy little details a possible subpoena. it's 7:00 am on this sunday, may 6. good morning. >> let's get started with a check of our forecast. julie is here to tell us what we can expect. >> a cool, gray sunday is