God Makes Good Priests and Good Husbands Out of the Same Material

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For years, Gregory felt God calling him to the priesthood, but he sat on that thought. The idea came to him in 7th grade when he attended Adoration for the first time. He felt so moved that he wondered if God wanted him to enter the priesthood. Gregory revealed his conviction to friends and family, who gave him a lot of affirmation.

"I took this experience in the seventh grade and projected it all the way through college. Other people also pressured me—in a positive way—into the priesthood," says Gregory, 26.

After graduating from college with a degree in computer science, Gregory spent another year contemplating whether to enter the seminary.

In August 2017, he attended an ACTS Retreat, and a priest shed some light on his discernment. Father provided a unique perspective because he had been a married deacon, and then he entered the priesthood after his wife died from cancer.

"He spoke to me about the vocation, and long story short, I kind of came out of that retreat realizing that I wasn't called to the priesthood," Gregory shares. "A lot of the things that I thought were signs that I was supposed to become a priest very well may have been signs that I was supposed to be a husband."

After the retreat, people from the church encouraged him to explore the possibility that he should marry. "God makes good priests and good husbands out of the same material," says Gregory, from Louisiana.

He was ready to try something new.

Elizabeth, also from Louisiana, felt frustrated by the dating world. "I had tried waiting for guys to ask me out, encouraging guys to ask me out, and asking them out only to be rejected," shares Elizabeth, 28.

"I had already discerned a religious vocation and found that to be a dead end," she says.

Noticing their daughter's dating struggles, Elizabeth's parents asked if they could give her a subscription to CatholicMatch as an early Christmas gift in 2018.

"Ready to try anything, I reluctantly agreed," she shares.

His hair is so long!

Looking through the profiles on CatholicMatch, Elizabeth came across a member that caught her eye: Gregory, who had long flowing hair. Elizabeth typically felt more attracted to clean-cut men, but something about Gregory made her want to know more, so she answered his message.

 "He was a bit out of my comfort zone and expectations, but I'd worked with enough people [in my job as a waitress] not to judge too quickly," she says.

He didn't know what to say...

Many of the messages that Gregory sent to members never received replies. He'd send a "Hello" only to see her say "Goodbye," if he was lucky enough to get a response. Because of his lack of experience with dating, he found the rejections especially stressful.

After five months of depressing cycles of "hello" and "no," he sent Elizabeth a message after he noticed she had clicked on his profile.

"I can't say it was love-at-first-view. Honestly, her profile was kind of sparse, and I wasn't sure what to expect," he recalls. "A day later, she responded, and boy, did the conversation roll. I didn't have to put any effort into talking to this girl. We just fit."

Elizabeth adds, "CatholicMatch gave us a great medium to discuss everything from cats to politics. It allowed us to safely explore a person who we wouldn't have dated otherwise."

Their first date was on New Year's Day.

Gregory and Elizabeth agreed to meet at Mass on The Feast of Mary the Mother of God, New Year's Day 2019. Gregory arrived with Fabio-esque hair. "I was like, 'Oh, okay.' His appearance was still a little outside of my comfort zone," she remembers. "I was just taking him all in."

Elizabeth also noticed Gregory's intelligence and conversational skills. Gregory felt amazed by Elizabeth's beauty, and he thought she was fun.

After a month of dating, they both found so much to like about one another. About this time, Elizabeth mentioned that she'd prefer that he cut his mane.

"At that point, things were smooth enough in our relationship that I didn't see any reason to keep it," he says. "Plus, it was long enough to donate to make wigs for cancer patients."

His proposal was during the pandemic.

After 15 months of dating and an okay from Elizabeth's father, Gregory proposed on the feast of St. Joseph on March 19th, 2020. They danced on her parent's back porch, and Gregory sang "Tightrope" from the movie The Greatest Showman to Elizabeth.

"I changed it to be masculine instead of feminine," he explains.

Elizabeth adds, "Greg has a really good voice."

After Gregory finished singing, he asked Elizabeth to marry him.

COVID didn't overshadow their wedding!

On December 30th, 2020, after a nine-month engagement, Elizabeth and Gregory said their vows at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Thankfully, Louisiana had eased up on lockdowns, and the couple celebrated their wedding with guests. The couple felt grateful that their wedding was normal and that the shadow of COVID didn't darken their day.

Elizabeth and Gregory currently live in Virginia, and they have one baby and another in heaven. "So much has happened… We feel like we've known each other for a lifetime. It all started with the message box on CatholicMatch. And we believe it was a part of God's Plan in our lives!"

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