As Valentine’s Day approaches, people young and old turn their attention to matters of the heart, eager to share their advice on the “do’s” and “don’ts” of dating.
This year, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila entered into the fray, encouraging young people to communicate face-to-face or over the phone when asking someone out on a date, and to not announce break-ups publicly on Facebook.
“At times I am astounded when I talk to parents today and they share with me how their children—when they are courting each other—at times are invited to dates simply by a text message,” he said in a homily given Jan. 26 at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.
He then gave some specific instructions to young people. He told the boys to “have enough respect for girls to call them, not text them, to ask them out.”
And to the girls, the archbishop told them that they “have the right for someone to call you and speak to you.”
“Too often communication removes the encounter with the other person and separates that encounter,” the archbishop lamented.
When it comes time to break-up, the archbishop added, do it privately: “It’s important that boyfriends and girlfriends not simply be dropped by a text message or on Facebook, letting everyone else know that they are dropped.”
Listen to the audio here:
