“I’ve learned over the years that a shared, active, real Catholic faith is the most important factor in my search for a husband,” she said. “I’ve dated many men who claimed to be Catholic or Christian. But as soon as I brought up attending Mass on a regular basis together, living a pure, chaste courtship, or raising a Catholic family, their tunes changed abruptly. I found it refreshing to meet men committed to their faith. A man of faith has a beautiful soul.”
After the event, organizers e-mailed participants their matches and results showing others’ interest in them as well as e-mail addresses of those who named them. On St. Valentine’s Day, everyone who participated received Catholic Singles speaker Dave Sloan’s “License to Date” test and answer key from the website www.godofdesire.com. Several speed daters said it was a good resource for immediate questions to Catholic dating.
Most of the speed daters were in their 20s or 30s, several were in their 40s and some were in their 50s.
“I enjoyed having the chance to meet some of the ladies I have seen at the Catholic young adult events, yet have never talked with,” said Kelly Eurek, 24, an engineer who resides in Golden. “Sometimes we get comfortable in our circle of friends and do not want to meet new ones. I was surprised how excited everyone was to meet new people.”
Several of the Catholic speed daters were new to the type of event, including Michelle Zapapas, 26, a pharmacist from Centennial.
“I was surprised at how relaxed I felt through the entire process,” Zapapas said. “That may have been the result of frantic prayer beforehand because I don’t consider myself to be outgoing, and I don’t consider myself to excel at first impressions. But I think going into the process with no expectations other than to stretch my comfort zone and support a friend who was also nervous about participating definitely helped keep the stress level low. I liked that at the end of the night, I could walk away with nothing and still feel like I succeeded in trying something new. The fact that I ended up meeting some great guys that I wouldn’t ordinarily have encountered was a bonus.”
Printed with permission from the Denver Catholic Register.