The Gen Z Role Models Project

“quickly fell into a rabbit hole of Catholic teaching. It all started with that song by a Franciscan friar with an unkempt beard and fraying habit-sleeves. “”Come follow me,”” he said. “”Come follow me.”” Again and again, that same refrain. And gradually it started to peel away the layers that he had built up around his heart. The defence mechanisms, the averted gaze, the ways he tried to avoid the uncomfortable. Come follow me…

Little did he know that this would set him on a journey into the heart of the Catholic faith and change his life forever…

He would soon meet new friends, and leave behind old ones. The pain of loss and the joy of meeting. He would become more human, more ready to give his life for a worthy cause. To live fully. To love. To give of himself. To wait for the Lord. To listen to the words that He is speaking in the quiet places, those words which penetrate to the deepest, darkest corners of his heart. And he would be changed forever.”

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

“quickly fell into a rabbit hole of Catholic teaching” (S110) © 2026 by The Gen Z Role Models Project is licensed under CC BY 4.0