“For months, I was staring at the CatholicMatch advertisement in the back of my church bulletin and one day I decided to just join on a whim,” says Rich.
He visited the site and saw that it was affordable for his budget, but he didn’t have high hopes. "I had many preconceived ideas of online dating because I was convinced before I joined that it doesn’t work and I was wasting my time.”
Rich figured he’d just meet some new people.
What actually happened changed his life.
Rich was on CatholicMatch for three months when he saw Christa’s profile. He was attracted to her eyes and her profile’s details. Christa, in her late 20s, had been on and off CatholicMatch for about nine years, but she had only paid three times. She would add and remove details from her profile every few months.
In 2016, Christa signed up for the last time. “If I don’t meet anyone this time around, I’m officially done with online dating,” she told herself.
Rich messaged Christa in November 2016. She was the first person he contacted on CatholicMatch. Christa and Rich began exchanging messages, then talking on the phone. She was drawn to the fact that he seemed genuine and sincere, and they were both attracted to one another’s devotion to Jesus and Mary.
On the first week of January 2017, two months after meeting on CatholicMatch, they had their first in-person meeting at Penrose Diner in Philadelphia. Rich loved the way Christa’s face lit up when she smiled.
They hit it off immediately, but Christa was initially cautious.
“I was still discerning if I should be dating or not because four months before we met I had just got out of a serious relationship, and I wanted to make sure my heart was fully healed before moving on to someone else,” Christa confesses.
They began a regular ritual of Friday night dates, each time visiting a small adoration chapel at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Morton, Pennsylvania, near Christa’s house. “It was a significant spot for both of us since we love adoration while worshipping and praising Jesus,” Christa says. Little did she know that both their lives would change forever in that chapel.
A year passes
After dating for a little more than a year, they were together in the chapel one evening when Rich seemed unusually flustered and upset. Normally, it was just the two of them in the chapel, but that night there were around six to ten other people. Rich disappeared for five minutes, leaving Christa in the front pew.
He returned and sat beside her. After a few minutes of silence before the Blessed Sacrament, Rich whispered to Christa that he never wanted moments like this with her to end. Then he got down on one knee and proposed to her.
“I totally didn’t expect it to happen!” Christa remembers. “I understood why he was upset and flustered afterward, because he just wanted it to be us in the chapel alone with Jesus and have that intimate moment.” She was caught off guard, but said “yes.”
Rich turned to the other parishioners in the little chapel. “Excuse me, I just proposed to my girlfriend and asked her to marry me!” he announced. Everyone clapped. “Rich couldn’t have done it anywhere else and Jesus was right there,” Christa says.
Afterward, they stayed at the church for a service, but Christa admits it was hard to focus for the whole hour because of what had just happened.
Can you really love me?
Just after the New Year, Rich and Christa were in a car accident. Both came out unharmed, but not having a vehicle to travel to see her put some stress on their burgeoning relationship. Rich also struggled with insecurity and was skeptical that Christa would accept him for who he is.
“Christa showed me through faith that my insecurity was nothing but the devil and it helped me to be more of myself around her and to be the best version of myself,” he says. Their wedding is scheduled for May 8, 2020.
Christa encourages other people to be patient, have faith, and pray for their future spouse. She advises to never give up and never settle. “God is writing your love story too,” she says.
“Be patient because a God-centered relationship is worth the wait.”
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