If you're a Catholic single looking for lasting love, RELATE 2023 is for you! A premier online dating event for single Catholics of all ages, the virtual event takes place on February 10 and 11, 2023. This first-ever offering from CatholicMatch, is for those looking to find new wisdom, confidence and prospects for dating that leads to forever. For more information, click here.
When I was stationed in Toronto a number of years ago, one of our employees was engaged. We were chatting one day and she bemoaned some comments she was receiving from her acquaintances. "Why," she said, "does everyone just assume that we're living together and sleeping together? It's like they never heard of anyone waiting until marriage!"
The Catholic way of being in relationship is definitely one that is not supported in the current cultural milieu. We live in a hookup world. Movies and television shows depict the first date ending up in bed so often that it seems like the norm. How difficult it must be for a Catholic single to find a Mr. or Mrs. Right who shares their faith and values. Enter RELATE 2023.
RELATE 2023 conference will offer first-rate advice and practical tips on so many issues surrounding dating and relationships from experts in the field. Speakers include Jackie and Bobby Angel, Damon and Melanie Owens, and Dr. Mario Sacasa, just to name a few. Here's a little taste of some of the topics being presented:
- How to win the battle of staying chaste while dating
- Life and dating after divorce
- Nobody's perfect vs. real red flags
- The key to making a long distance relationships work
The online conference will also feature live sessions, roundtable and panel discussions. For the full schedule and list of sessions, click here.
Damon & Melanie Owens are featured speakers at RELATE 2023.
The basic conference offerings are FREE and you don't have to be a member of Catholic Match to login. BUT, for a fee of just $49, you get the all-access pass which enables you participate in roundtable and panel discussions as well as live speed dating that will be hosted after the Relate 2023 on evenings in February and March and so much more. Seems worth it to me!
When my sister met her husband through CatholicMatch back in 2019, they had to do the long-distance relationship thing, only getting together periodically. She lived in Washington State and he lived on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Then the pandemic happened and the communication became nightly phone calls or FaceTime which would include praying the Rosary together. I'm sure they could have used the advice that the RELATE 2023 event will offer, but they had great support from family and church and have now been married for two years.
Photo by Icee Dc on Unsplash.
It's my belief that there are Catholics out there who want to turn around the cultural trends which fail to acknowledge the love that Christ intends between husband and wife. To those of you who are called to witness to our society by faithful marriages and Sprit-led parenting but haven't quite made it there yet, I am confident that RELATE 2023 has something that God intends just for you.
About the Author
Sister Hosea Rupprecht is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul, a religious community dedicated to evangelization with the media. She holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto and an MA in Media Literacy from Webster University in St. Louis.
Sr. Hosea is director of the East Coast office of the Pauline Center for Media Studies, based in Staten Island, NY, and speaks on media literacy and faith to catechists, parents, youth, and young adults. Together with Father Chip Hines, she is the co-host of Searchlight, a Catholic movie review show on Catholic TV. Sr. Hosea is the author of How to Watch Movies with Kids: A Values-Based Strategy, released by Pauline Books & Media.
For the past 15 years, she has facilitated various film dialogues for both children and adults, as well as given presentations on integrating culture, faith and media.