Catherine has asked me to advertise the upcoming Melbourne Catholic Singles event – her are the details:
Melbourne Single Catholics are holding a Catholic Speed Dating event for 18-55s on Saturday Feb 9th 2013 at 7pm. The venue is Sacred Heart, 116 Cotham Road, Kew. The cost is $25!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Age groups are 18-25, 25-35, 35-45, 45-55
proceeds go to the Jesuit Mission for the work in East Timor, specifically the mobile medical clinic. fee includes wine, beer, soft drink and great food.
Bookings are essential for this event so email melbournesinglecatholics@hotmail.com
Thanks David, we already have approx 50 singles for the event but the more people who attend the better.
Cheers Catherine
I have passed this onto our Chaplaincy and pastoral care manager at work- he is a young single man of 48 years
Oh on Friday at St Bridget’s church Brunswick street Fitzroy at 2pm ,there is a Mass for the World Day of the Sick the celebrant being the ArchBishop .
We now have over 70 people for speed dating but more are welcome. We need more men of all ages and more women 18-3o
Well done! Keep it going!
Great endeavour David,
but personally not the biggest fan of the form known as ‘speed dating’. It just seems a bit superficial.
It could possibly turn prospective daters into a ‘meat market’ where they have to make an impression through looks/short conversation.
I am all for what you are doing and understand it is all a bit of fun, but a Catholic-style event could be a bit deeper than secular alternatives
Gareth, at the end of the day, when it comes to dating Catholics are no deeper than anyone else. Attraction, particularly for men ( be they Catholic or otherwise) is at first visual. If the woman is not considered attractive it would not matter if she was Nobel prize winning saint, a man would not date her, in order to get to know her personal qualities.Women also require that the man be of tolerable appearance.
Really, negative “knockers” are most annoying. They do not do anything themselves to create social opportunities but criticise the efforts of those that do.
Thanks again for the plug David, we have approx 90 people turn up from 18-55 and have raised approx $3000 for the Jesuit Mission after expenses/
A bit superficial Catherine – surely the primary thing any Catholic on the prowl should be looking for in a potential match or even friend is if they are a half-decent Catholic to begin with or committed/willing to commit to the faith.
Gareth, you may not realise this but your language is highly suggestive of particular attitudes you might not intend: “any Catholic ‘on the prowl’ ” – “if they are a half-decent Catholic”. One could easily and reasonably infer that (1) you equate dating with a predatory activity and intent, and that, (2) curiously, you would be quite happy that a friend or partner was only “half” decent as a Catholic. From the latter one could go on to infer that you didn’t really mind people who were not fully decent Catholics, which would be quite a development from the usual inference one might be said to be able to reasonably make from your posts, namely that you had very exclusive standards and expectations of Catholics.
But of course I acknowledge that such inferences could very well be quite mistaken. I prefer to think they are. The one thing however I must insist on protesting is your calling Catherine’s reply or the event “superficial”. In fact neither are superficial in any way. Any superficiality is simply your own opinion. But I protest it nevertheless.
Thank you for saying what I would have said, Stephen. I did not notice this conversation till now. I will leave it up, but I apologise if any hurt was caused to Catherine (I doubt it – she’s a tough gal) or Melbourne Catholic Singles if Gareth’s comments cause offense. Gareth – you have been warned (again) – Be Nice!
It was an obvious line sent in jokingly manner meant in good taste as part of a broader conversation about something I felt deeply about (that ‘speed dating’ is potentially superficial, particularly for Catholic women).
A simple google search reveals many non-Christians share my concern.
Perhaps something has pricked your conscious again David on the topic at large to react in such a way to a pithy line that clearly meant no offense to anyone.
Stephen,
Right of reply: you are have misinterpreted what was written and are mistaken.
Hint: I don’t suppose David will have the humility to withdraw the comment.
Que? Which comment?
And it is generally not know for blog owners to show much humility when moderating comments – we are “lords of all we survey” at least in this domain.
I rather thought I was showing some charity, however, in not simply deleting your comments, Gareth.
David,
A clarification: It appears you have simply misinterpreted the original comments of mine.
The term ‘on the prowl’ is a relatively common sarcastic phrase used to mean actively looking for a match/partner, which I gather anyone attending a dating event would be doing so. Sarcastic but certainly not offensive.
I didn’t mean Catherine was superficial at all, but simply that there are actually Catholics out there that do not attach that much meaning to ‘looks’ but rather look to finding someone who shares a committed dedication to their faith.
How is that causing hurt as you claim?
As one of the criteria for entering into marriage in the Catholic Church is to marry a Catholic or either show a strong commitment of raising children in the Catholic faith, I don’t see how my comments of looking for someone ‘half-decently’ (meaning having some-sort of commitment) connection or willingness to committ to the Catholic faith is in anyhow wrong.
I support Catholic dating type activities but would rather see activities more wholesome such as a picnic/pilgrimage/day-trip etc than what is known as speed dating.
Stephen and yourself’s have clearly misinterpreted what was originally written to mean something offensive when they were nothing of the sort.
Not for the first time either.
And then you do not respect my wish to consider withdrawing the comment or consider you misinterpreted things. Being a moderator doesnt give a license to be arrogant.
It is deeply disrespectful., a trait I (and another member of my Dicoese who previously used to post here) have noticed in your responses to myself and their posts ever since we articulated our views on marriage a few years back.
I honestly don’t know if deep-down there is somesort of issue.
Anyhow, I hope you honestly accept the above and re-consider your own manner and not jump to unfair conclusions with future conversations.
Gees, one can only be friends with or date committed Catholics!!! What a lot one would miss out on. I know plenty of Anglicans and other Christians who are far better Catholics than actual Catholics.
I hope everyone has a good time tonight, Catherine, and that some happy connections and discoveries are made. And I agree with you. The dynamic of attraction, companionship and affirming relationship is universal – having the same religion is no guarantee of any of these three.
I can only put my final word in on this post that I did not in anyway in my original post mean the interpretation that Stephen and David quite wrongly jumped to conclusions on and certainly did not mean offence to anyone.
I honsetly meant that it is always good to remember as Catholics that it is the heart that what matters.
I am not sure what an unwillingness to accept this clarification is a reflection of.