In the last fifty years, the Higher Education Research Institute has been conducting a study of first-year college students to determine their personal goals and values. In 1978, being rich ranked 8th among all the goals listed as choices in the survey, and since 1989, this goal has consistently ranked first. Indeed, the young people want to be rich more than anything. The drive to be rich is partly motivated by the self-made billionaire like Mike Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin who made their first billion before reaching the age of 30. Or Bill Gates and Larry Page who, just missed the cutoff, achieving documented billionaire status at age 31.
The first reading from the book of Daniel is a story about young people. The opening of the story recounts how young people were able to preserve their fidelity to God and their identity through the observance of pious practices, prayer, and fasting. The story makes it clear that it was God who endows extraordinary knowledge and wisdom upon the young men who had to face a foreign king. The bottom line is that these young men were able to maintain their purity through their pious religious practices, fasting, and dietary restrictions. Eventually, God grants them wisdom and talents as the reward for their purity and piety.
It is hard to imagine how the youth of our day might strive for pious practices, prayer, and fasting. However, do not give up hope; there are still young men and women in the era of the digital age who are observing prayer and pious practices in their lives. Moreover, we need to pray for the youth that they might be drawn to the life of virtue and prayer. Is there a group of young men and women that you want to pray for these days? Try to remember a particular young person that you know. Pray that he or she strive for holiness instead of richness.