The Centennials

Making faith our only reality

Mark 5:21-43 

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him, and he stayed close to the sea. One of the synagogue officials, named Jairus, came forward. Seeing him he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, saying, "My daughter is at the point of death. Please, come lay your hands on her that she may get well and live." He went off with him and a large crowd followed him. While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house arrived and said, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?" Disregarding the message that was reported, Jesus said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." He did not allow anyone to accompany him inside except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they arrived at the house of the synagogue official, he caught sight of a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. So he went in and said to them, "Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep." And they ridiculed him. Then he put them all out.

          Do you know what people will call your generation, those who were born after 1997? You are called, “the Centennials,” or “Generation Z.” The previous generation was called, “The Millennials,” and they were born between 1979 and 1996. Most of your parents, however, were born between 1960 and 1979, and that includes me, and we’re called “Generation X.” People are trying to understand how you (the Centennials) “tick” – what you think, how you feel, and what you value. I recently read this description, and I wonder if you think it’s true about you. The article said: “Centennials have shifted their own definition of true success to focus not on what you get in life (material things) but whom you meet, what you do, and who you are” (“Zephoria,” June 17, 2017). That is, life’s “end-game” for you is not about becoming rich and having a lot of material things, but about knowing yourself, others, and doing something significant. Raise your hand if you agree with that. (Raise your hand if you’re still awake.)

          Here’s something else new about Centennials: you are growing up with “virtual reality,” and that’s changing how you behave. Interactive, on-line videos like “Black ops” and “Halo,” social media like Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr and Twitter, all allow you to spend more and more time with your heads buried in your cell phone, tablet or ipad. That world where you interact with others is evolving from a “virtual reality” into some people’s “only reality,” or at least their “preferred reality.”

          Let me give you an example to illustrate the difference between Gen Xers and Centennials. 

When I was a teenager, I couldn’t wait to drive a car. I was so excited to drive, I said to my parents, “I’ll even drive to church!” (That’s a very excited teenager.) But Centennials could care less about driving a car. Do you have any desire to drive? Probably not.  But why is that? It’s because in “virtual reality” you can travel farther, and travel faster, and travel freer than I could ever dream in my car, and you don’t even have to take a driving test! Now, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not criticizing virtual reality, I think it’s here to stay, but I want you to notice how it’s changing your behavior, and your priorities, and I find that fascinating, and maybe even helpful.

          The Scriptures today seem to almost suggest that faith offers us another kind of virtual reality, a different world we can live in, and which should likewise change our behavior while we’re walking around in this world. For example, Hebrews says, “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden of sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us.” The ancient author sees another reality through faith, namely, the heavenly hosts of angels and saints cheering us on to victory. It’s almost like he’s wearing a virtual reality headset called “faith” and he can see things that others can’t. And it’s changing his behavior to be a better Christian. In the gospel Jesus walks into a house with a dead girl, but he shockingly says, “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.” Jesus’ faith allowed him to see that this girl was asleep, not dead.  Jesus was always walking around with the virtual reality headset of faith and what he saw by faith dictated his words and actions. He behaved differently, he didn’t want to drive a car, because his head was buried in “virtual reality,” which was his “only reality.”

          Boys and girls, my point today is that instead of ridiculing or rejecting virtual reality - like the people ridiculed Jesus - maybe we should learn from it. And you – the Centennials – may be the perfect people to teach us how! How can we see our faith like a virtual reality, and how can it change our behavior in a positive way? One thing you’ve taught us is that material things are not so important, but rather being yourself matters more. This is true in our faith, too, where Jesus tell us to have our true treasure not on earth but in heaven. Secondly, in virtually reality there no borders but you meet and interact with people all over the world – in Black Ops and Halo, you kill people from all over the world! The Catholic faith is exactly the same (minus the killing part) – the word “catholic” means “universal.” And thirdly, virtual reality helps us see that world, this reality, is not the only one there is; we can live in two worlds at the same time. Our faith teaches us to do precisely that: live in two worlds, with one foot on earth, and the other foot in heaven, and to try to see heaven not just a “virtual reality,” but more and more as our “only reality.” Centennials, you may be able to live the Catholic faith in ways we Gen Xer’s and Millennials never imagined.

          But may I add this little caution? Don’t forget what Satan mistakenly thought in Milton’s Paradise Lost, when he was cast out of heaven and thrown into Hell. He boasted: “Farewell, happy Fields / Where joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail / Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell / Receive thy new Possessor: One who brings / A mind not to be changed by Place or Time.” And then he says these lines that I hope you will forever burn into your memory: “The mind is its own place, and in it self / Can make a Heav’n of Hell, or a Hell of Heav’n” (Paradise Lost, Book 1) Sadly, Satan did not realize that “virtual reality” of faith will one day become your “only reality.”

          Praised be Jesus Christ!