The Gen Z Role Models Project

and feeling so inspired by the wisdom of the speaker, she sent it to her friend Monica.

Monica picked up her phone and internally sighed, despite remaining stoic from the outside. Another dear friend sending the lessons of a charlatan. As she listened to the phrases that came out of this man’s mouth, there was a degree of truth in what he said, but if you listened for a consistent philosophy, it was vapid. Another new age spiritual figure inspired by social science and eastern philosophy.

She understood the draw, it was unique, it pushed back against some of the cultural pressures that weighed down her generation. It even did contain parts of what Monica knew to be true. Like many other posts she saw in social media, it captured the zeitgeist of her time speaking of self-care and liberation, but with a twist. It seemed like a pathway towards the light, but Monica knew that it ended in darkness. How could Monica know that? Her friends would certainly ask if she ever shared such an opinion. Because she knows the one true light. That light which enlightens the intellect, renews the heart, and is the eternal truth. The light that by substance and action is love. But these words and thoughts would be lost on her friends. She would be accused of being unscientific or possibly worse, un-inclusive for believing that her faith was really true.

As children of their age Monica and her friends tend towards the material, though not always the rational. It was difficult to show, much less convince her friends of the beauty that she experienced. That not every religious value was the same. That everyone is called to greatness and there is a beautiful purpose of their lives. How, without sounding ridiculous could she share the treasures in her heart that convicted her that her creator loves her personally. That healing was available, though not in the way this age was looking for it. Monica was glad people were opening up to religion again, but feared that it might become more self-serving than self-sacrificing.

Monica couldn’t solve this problem, and it wasn’t her job. The only thing she could do is offer the ache in her heart to heaven, both for her friends in general and for Jesse’s recent suffering too. Entrusting her prayer under the mantle of Our Lady she offered yet another Hail Mary. 

This story was submitted as part of the Oxford Pilot Phase of the Gen Z Role Models Project.

“and feeling so inspired” (S107) © 2026 by The Gen Z Role Models Project is licensed under CC BY 4.0