When you comb the archives of the CatholicMatch member stories, there are examples of people who found their true love within days of joining the site. There are also examples of people who had been waiting and waiting…and then waiting some more and being ready to give up either CatholicMatch or online dating in general. Tim and Magdalena are a couple where both examples are within the same relationship.
Tim joined CatholicMatch with what he described as a “cautious optimism.” Faith was important to the 32-year-old lawyer from the Pittsburgh suburbs, and the options outside of online dating just weren’t cutting it. “There are so many singles out there, guys and girls, who are all about quick thrills, fleeting romances, flings, one-night stands, or worse,” he said. He wanted a woman who shared his Catholic convictions.
Magdalena wanted the same thing. Five years younger than Tim, born and raised in Poland and doing her graduate work in media studies at the University of West Virginia, she wanted someone who was socially conservative and Catholic. Her best friend steered her toward CatholicMatch, but when she joined, she was skeptical.
A recent trip to Magdalena's native Poland, and then Italy, gave her and Tim a chance to share their passion for faith and family.
Given their different levels of confidence in online dating, it’s ironic that Magdalena was the one who didn’t have to wait long. Tim had been on the site for more than a year and was losing hope, when Magdalena came across his profile and sent him a message—what Tim would later call “the miraculous message.”
“(It was), August 27, 2012,” she said. “The day of my parents’ 29th wedding anniversary. As soon as I found him I was super excited to meet him.” Within two weeks they were having coffee together.”
The ensuing nine months have birthed a new life for both Tim and Magdalena. “He loves children and family,” Magdalena said enthusiastically. “We have the same ideas about marriage and commitment and we both love to travel.”
Travel is something they did quite a bit of in the early part of this spring—Tim joined her on a trip to her native country, to see her brother get married. Ironically this came within two weeks of one of Tim’s siblings getting married.
Their trip also afforded them the opportunity to see Poland, and later travel on to Rome, where they were present at Pope Francis’ Wednesday Mass. And the extended time spent together only confirmed the virtues each already saw in the other.
This is how close Tim & Magdalena were to Pope Francis in their visit to Rome.
