The story is a bit on the light side and not to be taken seriously although some little bits are drawn from my past. Mike K was kind enough to edit out the worst of my bad grammar and spelling. I owe him a debt here. The story is not perfect but it is free. As always tell me what you think.
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Father Dominic entered the dimly lit Newman Center Chapel. He expected more light because it was Thursday, and the Altar Society cleaned and prepared the church for weekly services on Thursday evenings. The Society was made up of a dozen young women volunteers from the University, but tonight they were not in the Chapel. That surprised him. Mary McCarty, the group's chairwoman, was normally a most capable and dependable young woman. There were no males in the Altar Society. Young men rarely even attended services in these increasingly secular times. Father Dominic could only pray for their threatened souls.
Being the Chaplin of the State University's Newman Center was not a particularly rewarding position. Father Dominic would have preferred real parish work, but it was not his option to choose. He had been assigned to minister to the university community, and he tried his best to be a good advocate for the teachings of the Catholic faith. It was a difficult community to serve, particularly in these times.
Young people today had very loose morals. Sex was always an important factor when ministering to college students. Nothing had prepared the priest for the modern "hookup culture." Young people no longer dated, they hooked up instead. A hookup could mean anything from sharing coffee to sexual intercourse. It was, unfortunately, most often the latter. The priest was convinced that the unrestrained physical urges of young men were principally to be blamed for this development
Young men no longer felt responsible for anything. There were fewer of them in college, and, in fact, they were the minority. Young men were all about only one thing. Young women were no longer courted. A girl today would find her man at some event or social occasion without the benefit of prior arrangement. Sex had become no more than a casual event. Each Sunday Dominic preached against the hookup culture with only modest success.
His congregation was small and almost exclusively female. Still there were bright spots. Mary McCarthy was one of those lights. She was a teacher in training. She had completed her BA, her student teaching, and was almost finished with her MA in education for her permanent certification. She was a beautiful young woman with a very curvaceous figure. Not some skinny little thing, but a tall young lady with black hair and pretty green eyes. The unkind might label her as a bit overweight, but she looked like what Father Dominic would call a real woman. Added to these attributes like a shining jewel was her deep Catholic faith and commitment to the church. She had but one deficiency, and Dominic hoped she would soon rid herself of it or rather him.
Father walked through the chapel into the church hall. It was a long somewhat narrow room at the back of the church building that was lined along one wall with tables and chairs for social and educational functions. As he entered, he saw a group of young women at the far end, the missing Altar Society . The girls were gathered together and clearly excited about something.
As Dominic approached one of the girls called out, "Oh Father come and see. Mary's engaged."
They were gathered around Mary, who was sporting a substantial diamond ring. Father dreaded the answer as he asked the question.
"Who is the lucky young man?"
"Oh, Father don't be silly, it's Stil," a number of young women informed the priest.
It was all he could do to keep a smile on his face. In a University filled with oversexed, immature men, Robert Simons might be considered an exception. He was painfully shy and awkward. He was very studious in his quiet way and maybe even somewhat likable. But that was the extent of his good qualities.
Robert was an atheist by personal inclination and a Protestant by birth. He was commonly referred to by the nickname Stil for reasons never explained. He seemed to be known to every young woman on campus who uniformly treated him with an uncommon familiarity. Every girl on campus seemed to regard him with amusement and hide a knowing smirk when his name was mentioned. Father feared the worst and had been disappointed the first time Mary had dragged Stil to Saturday evening Mass.
Mary had been seeing Stil, whom she studiously referred to as Robert, for a good eighteen months since the last half of the proceeding academic year. Stil was a good three years younger than Mary, a junior to her graduate student. He was in Father's opinion in no way her equal. She led him around like a pet. Father could see that she ruled the relationship. He never directly stood up to her. Stil or Robert did not seem the type to be so submissive. The young man was firm in his religious views and adamant in his convictions. He was also tall and well built. A member of the varsity wrestling team he was also a bouncer at the "Factory", the worst of the college bars. But it was clear that he was so utterly infatuated with Mary that her quietest wish was a loud command to him.
"Father can I speak to you in private," Mary whispered in his ear.
"Of course—later when the others have gone," he whispered back.
He was hoping that she had some doubts about her engagement that he might used to show her how inappropriate a marriage outside her faith would be.
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"Father." Mary took a seat in the small office the priest used at the back of the church hall, "Everything I say, it's like confession?"
"Of course my child, but I hope it is nothing bad," he said.
"No—well maybe, you see it's Sti—Robert and sex," she said.
"Has he been pressuring you for sex?"
A tear dropped across Mary's face as she shook her head no.
