Catholic Devotions!

Wrong Place, Right Time

Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong decade.

I mean, sure, I'm quite the gen Z child. I like all the things the kids are into these days: Roblox, corn memes, AJR, taco cats, and Stranger Things. But yet I love CDs, the Beatles, board and card games, head coverings, dusty books, long skirts, and the Beach Boys. And there are other modern things I object to: being on your phone 24/7, Tony Stark's death, yelling at people on social media, platform shoes, and some other things that would probably get me banned from Wattpad if I dArEd put them into writing.

I just look back at decades like the 50s-90s and wonder why I couldn't have grown up around such a cool time. When the Catholic Church seemed to be in its golden years of reverence before Vatican II, before cell phones and electric cars, when VCRs were still a thing, when actual matching clothes were in style.

But today, while I was playing barefoot in the backyard with my sisters, I stared up at the underside of our playset and a thought struck me: if I truly feel like I belong in past decades like that, then God would've put me there, right?

There has to be a reason I'm existing right now, amongst all the tension of daring to speak up as a Christian in 2023. God must have a plan; I must be meant to do something, like write this very devotion.

Sometimes we can feel like there's no point in existing at all, and that feeling really sucks. The devil can get into our minds like that, filling us with hopelessness and a dread for what the future might bring. But guess what? God put YOU here in THIS TIME for a REASON. And you're so privilege to have been chosen, out of all your ancestors, to live in this exact moment. The previous generations fought for a better world that we could live in. It might be a little more messed up in some ways than they had hoped, but it's a thousand times better in a thousand other ways, and it's ours now. We need to embrace our role as stewards to both the faithful and the faithless.

As Catholics, we are called to be in the world but not of it. Spreading the Good News but not succumbing to the false modern ideals. You might not know how exactly you're called to do that yet, and that's okay. Vibe in whatever decade you admire, but remember: we're existing here and now. There's a reason beyond our understanding, a mission for us to fulfil that's beyond our human knowledge.

And one day, we shall strive to be a part of the Communion of Saints. If we succeed, we'll be with God for an eternity. What's another decade?