Awkward conversation

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I’m not sure how to bring this topic up with a guy friend of mine who I am attracted to and who is attracted to me, but I feel like he isn’t as committed to chastity as I am. I don’t have a lot of evidence to base this assumption on, but I’m not sure how to bring it up in a conversation. Bringing it up makes me cringe inside. I don’t want to lead him on so if he isn’t committed to chastity I would want to find someone who is before we get in a serious relationship. I’m scared about bringing it up. I think I would be less afraid is I wasn’t as attracted to him as I am. Any suggestions for conversation starters?
 
Don’t start that conversation. At the moment, you’re just friends. Why not leave it at that? It could be very embarrassing to bring up sex in the conversation, only to find out he wants to remain just friends.
 
I’m not sure how to bring this topic up with a guy friend of mine who I am attracted to and who is attracted to me, but I feel like he isn’t as committed to chastity as I am. I don’t have a lot of evidence to base this assumption on, but I’m not sure how to bring it up in a conversation. Bringing it up makes me cringe inside. I don’t want to lead him on so if he isn’t committed to chastity I would want to find someone who is before we get in a serious relationship. I’m scared about bringing it up. I think I would be less afraid is I wasn’t as attracted to him as I am. Any suggestions for conversation starters?
Nothing wrong with saying in a lighthearted way; “My faith is soooo important to me.” “Are you completely on board with everything the catholic church teaches?”
 
I was scared off by someone, a Law student, who on the first date, asked, “Are you moral?” Yes I was, but he came across as pompously ‘righteous’ in asking this that it scared me off, and I pleaded assignments each time he asked me out after that. Well I did have a heavy assignment load!

I think you’ll find out soon enough and can back off very fast if he doesn’t accept a sincere statement of your moral position. He might back off himself if his position is different to yours.

Even many Catholics don’t have much idea of the Catholic teaching on the issue, so to be asked if he is on-board with Cathodic teaching might require a lot of explanation. That could either scare him off or begin his evangelization!
 
first of all, is he catholic?

because if not, it will be even more challenging.

if he is, you can try and find an event you could attend, on that topic then asks him what he thinks about it. or get more involved in the church and discuss various items of faith and teachings in a casual way. if you’re in a habit of talking about catholic teachings regularly, it won’t be as weird to bring up chastity one day in a nonchalant way
 
Well… my approach might not be popular but it is the one I use.

I just simply come out and say ‘It is very important for me to wait until marriage’. I NEVER ask how the guy feels. I just tell him where I stand and if he doesn’t respect it, he is out
 
Nothing wrong with saying in a lighthearted way; “My faith is soooo important to me.” “Are you completely on board with everything the catholic church teaches?”
Too general, he might not know what she is referring to.
 
If and when the subject surfaces, I think then would be the time to mention how you feel about your faith and chastity.
 
I’m not sure how to bring this topic up with a guy friend of mine who I am attracted to and who is attracted to me, but I feel like he isn’t as committed to chastity as I am. I don’t have a lot of evidence to base this assumption on, but I’m not sure how to bring it up in a conversation. Bringing it up makes me cringe inside. I don’t want to lead him on so if he isn’t committed to chastity I would want to find someone who is before we get in a serious relationship. I’m scared about bringing it up. I think I would be less afraid is I wasn’t as attracted to him as I am. Any suggestions for conversation starters?
If he isn’t as committed to chastity as you are, why do you want to have a serious relationship with him? Attraction is important in a relationship, but having shared values is even more so. I know another poster has asked this, but is your friend Catholic?

Lou
 
Provided that you have told him you are a believer, you are worried about the wrong thing. It is in no way “leading someone on” to fail to make it a point to tell them you live a life of integrity and are planning to do everything in your power to keep the two of you headed towards Heaven. You told him you are a Christian. You do your best to unfailingly act like one every day in every way. You dress, speak, and act modestly, like a chaste woman. That is enough.

You aren’t worried about telling him you won’t lie for him or to him, right? Not worried about how you’ll tell him that you will never cheat on your taxes, miss Mass on Sundays or Holy Days, blaspheme or tolerate blasphemy, engage in nature worship, covet what someone else has, or any of that? Really–you cannot waste your anxiety over the worry that he is going to say, “When you said you were Christian, I didn’t think you meant it!!” Nothing could be worse for his soul than if you didn’t mean it. If he says, that then, your answer should not be “yes, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” Your answer should be, “well, yeeeees…you know I’m Catholic and you know I’ve never ducked anything else about my faith. Why would you expect this to be different?” Honestly, he can’t say he was “lead on” without gravely insulting you. More to the point, I do not know how you imply that he thinks otherwise without insulting him. You may as well ask him if it is safe leaving your purse alone with him while you visit the bathroom! Ask a thief that question, and he’ll lie to you. Ask an honest man, and he’ll be hurt. Get someone in-between who thinks it totally OK to rifle your purse as if it were already community property because it is what all his friends do with their girlfriends, and his feelings would not be what you’d worry about!!

Don’t worry about bringing it up. Keep him in your prayers–you are talking about the concern that he plans to turn both of you over to mortal sin–watch that you do not hide your approval of those who live a moral life, but otherwise, give the situation to the protection of the Holy Spirit. Make St. Joseph, Guardian of virgins, Pillar of families, Terror of Demons, your ally:

Now who is going to harm you if you are enthusiastic for what is good? But even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil. 1 Pet 3:13-17
 
Too general, he might not know what she is referring to.
If he is Catholic and lets on that he does not feel bound by everything the Church teaches, that is a time to ask for an accounting of where he differs. If he says he doesn’t think Catholics need to adhere to all of the moral law as the Church teaches it and you do not express any concerns about that, he might fairly conclude that you also favor a “policy of flexibility” in moral discernment.

This is a question that does come up when a Catholic is asked about her faith. For instance, when you say, “I need to find a time to go to Mass on Sunday,” and your friend asks, “can’t you just skip this one time?” you can say, “no, the Church teaches that there is a real obligation to go to Mass when it is possible, and I take everything the Church teaches very seriously.” If the questioner does not share that belief, it is up to him to clarify that you really did mean everything in a wider sense.

What a Catholic should not do is to apologize for aiming for integrity between belief and action, nor for refraining from trumpeting the fact. Yes, she should be clear that her resolution to keep a moral life should not be taken as a desire to judge anyone else, but she should not entertain arguments on the subject. It is a matter of integrity, and she should not apologize for aiming for integrity in every way in which she is capable.
 
I’m not sure how to bring this topic up with a guy friend of mine who I am attracted to and who is attracted to me, but I feel like he isn’t as committed to chastity as I am. I don’t have a lot of evidence to base this assumption on, but I’m not sure how to bring it up in a conversation. Bringing it up makes me cringe inside. I don’t want to lead him on so if he isn’t committed to chastity I would want to find someone who is before we get in a serious relationship. I’m scared about bringing it up. I think I would be less afraid is I wasn’t as attracted to him as I am. Any suggestions for conversation starters?
If you be friends with him for a while you will soon discover all of his catholic or non catholic morals. Just by spending time with him, and listening to his conversations,
People don’t hide their core beliefs, you will discover it all, from being friends
 
If he is Catholic and lets on that he does not feel bound by everything the Church teaches, that is a time to ask for an accounting of where he differs.
I disagree. I have had to many conversations where I told someone I believe in all the church teachings and at a later date the same people who told me they admired me for it were shocked to find out I did not believe in pre-marital sex. Some people really have no idea that premarital sex is a sin, others really do believe it is OK to say ‘I follow all church teachings’ when they are having premarital sex
 
Some people really have no idea that premarital sex is a sin, others really do believe it is OK to say ‘I follow all church teachings’ when they are having premarital sex
I wouldn’t have believed that statement in the past, but I do now - I know a woman who really didn’t know she wasn’t supposed to be living with her boyfriend. When she found out, she stopped living with him.
 
Around the time my husband and I started dating in college, I initiated a conversation like this with him because I shared a similar concern as you. I think I started by asking him what he thought the point of dating was (i.e., I wanted to know if he thought dating was a way to discern marriage or if it was just a way to pass the time or if he was hoping it would be physical or something else). I can’t remember exactly how the conversation went, but I do recall telling him at one point that it was important to me that I wait until my wedding night.

We were both virgins when we married four years later, and have been happily married for the past seven.
 
Around the time my husband and I started dating in college, I initiated a conversation like this with him because I shared a similar concern as you. I think I started by asking him what he thought the point of dating was (i.e., I wanted to know if he thought dating was a way to discern marriage or if it was just a way to pass the time or if he was hoping it would be physical or something else). I can’t remember exactly how the conversation went, but I do recall telling him at one point that it was important to me that I wait until my wedding night.

We were both virgins when we married four years later, and have been happily married for the past seven.
I agree with this. This is the best course of action for OP.
 
I’m not sure how to bring this topic up with a guy friend of mine who I am attracted to and who is attracted to me, but I feel like he isn’t as committed to chastity as I am. I don’t have a lot of evidence to base this assumption on, but I’m not sure how to bring it up in a conversation. Bringing it up makes me cringe inside. I don’t want to lead him on so if he isn’t committed to chastity I would want to find someone who is before we get in a serious relationship. I’m scared about bringing it up. I think I would be less afraid is I wasn’t as attracted to him as I am. Any suggestions for conversation starters?
Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?
 
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