In an age of unrelenting greed, selfishness, and materialism, there are few things that can stand in the way of their unending tide. Few things are as potent as the temptations of consumerism—endless ‘stuff’ to distract us from our woes and sins.
It is while we indulge in the endless gluttony of the 21st century that our rightful inheritance is swept from beneath us, without us even realizing. It is not only our material inheritance that our forefathers fought for with every fiber of their being; it is also our spiritual inheritance from our heavenly Father. While we bicker and fight over minute, trivial desires, the powers that be—chief among them being the large corporations of the tech-barons and Wall Street—are stealing the generational transfer of wealth to an extent that will render it nearly impossible to raise a good, Christian family.
It is Generation Z, a generation of which I am proud to be a part, that is told from the cradle that going to college will ensure a good, profitable life for us. Simply go into higher education and assume mountains of debt, and you will assuredly gain a better life for yourself. Spend your days typing up gobbledygook for a faceless employer who cares little for your well-being outside of mindless HR sessions. Do this for approximately 40 years of your God-given life and promptly retire. It is during this stage of life that you likely do not have the energy to do what you dreamt of as a child. Unfortunately, this is the lie that an entire generation has been sold. This is the lie that will continue to infect the next generation of mankind until something is done about it.
We are already seeing the fruits of this lie in the Millennial generation—very few people can afford housing without cramming into a meager apartment like sardines in a can. On top of that, they have mountains of both student and consumer debts to pay to their debtors. This by no means is a way to live. Generation Z, by now, is just beginning to graduate college and enter into the real world; leaving the nest, if you will. They are having an even rougher time. In previous times, Millennials could rest assured that they might at least have an entry-level job in a large firm. Generation Z has to compete ferociously with visa workers for an unpaid internship. The same companies that have essentially psy-opped parents into grooming their children for college have gone ahead and hired cheap, foreign labor that Generation Z has no hope of competing against.
This is one of the many aspects of the great sickness of the soul that is materialism. Materialism is a desire for our temporal world; it is a desire for anything other than God almighty. Selfishness and greed can lead to the downfall of entire nations—secularism at its finest. Gone are the days when the previous generation cared about their heirs and successors, the family unit, and the concept of the nation. All is fair game in the pursuit of the almighty dollar—the new god of the Western world. Think of the Millennial and Z Generations as sacrifices for the previous generation’s real estate portfolio. Why rent or sell your house to a young family for $1200 a month when you can turn your house into an Airbnb for upwards of $2500 a month, depending on the user of your former residence? So what are the next generations within the Western world to do when faced with the greed and selfishness of the previous generations? Solidarity.
To not lose our souls in the cacophony of temptations that the modern world offers, men, women, and children of the true Faith must stick together in all aspects of life. This can range anywhere from simple friend groups to organizing at your place of business.
We see many examples of Christians taking care of each other throughout the New Testament, most prominently during the Book of Acts. Now, dear reader, I am not advocating for everyone to sell what they have and give to the Church, though that would be an insurmountable testament to Christian charity.
What I am advocating is relinquishing all of your “mental possessions,” if you will. A mental possession would be worrying over things like car payments or greed. Instead, offer your mental space to the body of believers. Devote your time to conversations with your brethren about matters of faith and morals. Conversations must be had about the next steps in our lives. With so much pitted against us, we must, as Scripture implores, “Be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Mt. 10:16, NRSV).
The people of modernity have a secular mindset through and through. Many of them are even borderline atheistic—though most of the time the modern man is unconcerned with matters of God and faith. Most of these individuals spend time in their offices and places of work. This necessitates a response from the faithful for the goals of greater evangelization. To achieve Christian solidarity in places of secular activities, groups of the faithful ought to form social groups such as Bible studies or simply friend groups amid secularism.
Individuals in our current age utterly lack meaningful communities; their understanding of a “community” is just a few people they go out drinking with on weekends. Christ could offer so much more to these lost souls. They are ensnared by the beast of materialism, thinking in terms of “When will I eat next?” or “When will I buy the next game?” All things are possible through Christ, as my earlier writings have emphasized, but it will take the people of God to go forth into the world, in ALL aspects of life—not just your individual parish—to evangelize and set examples of how the Faith should be kept in our lives. As our dear Holy Father, Pope Francis, said, “Evangelization is the oxygen that invigorates and purifies Christian life.” It is time we come together as the people of God and live this reality, despite all that is against us.