By Amy White
The Texas Catholic
It’s hard to imagine a more providential place to meet one’s spouse than at an event specifically about discerning the vocation of marriage; but that is exactly what happened for Christ the King parishioners Dr. Christian Monsalve, 33, and Julia Monsalve, 31, who met at a Faith Fitness Ministry event three years ago and have since built a life together as a young married couple.
For both Julia and Christian, their discernment journeys began well before they crossed paths for the first time in Dallas.
Julia, who grew up in Mount Pleasant, Texas, began seriously discerning religious life as a FOCUS missionary at Southeast Missouri State University. She soon joined the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Michigan as a postulant; but after seven months, with the help of her postulant mistress, she discovered a call to marriage instead. She returned to Texas in 2019 to work as a speech pathologist.
In the meantime, Christian, who grew up in a suburb of New York City, studied philosophy at Fordham University in New York before going to Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Choosing a specialty in psychiatry, he moved to Dallas to attend UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. New to the area—and with his closest family members as far away as New Jersey—he knew he needed to build a community around him.
“I knew that I wanted to build a good friend circle; and I knew that that depended on me,” he said. “So, I got really involved in different social circles and young adult groups. And one of them that I became aware of was Faith Fitness.”
Faith Fitness is a Catholic ministry that offers young adults opportunities to gather in community at social and fitness events in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In September 2021, the ministry put on an event entitled “How do I know I am ready for marriage? Marriage Vows vs. Reality,” which was held at an alehouse in Dallas as part of a lecture series on relationships. Bishop Edward J. Burns was the speaker of the night.
Christian and Julia both attended.
“Bishop Burns gave a talk about marriage specifically, and I remember him saying that he was praying for our vocations,” Julia recalled. “That just really struck me that the bishop is praying for my vocation; I remember being so grateful for that.”
Voices of Faith
A young married couple recalls their first meeting at a Catholic young adult event in Dallas—and the relationship that grew from it. In this episode of “Voices of Faith,” listen as Christ the King parishioners Christian and Julia Monsalve recount their story of love and discernment.
Saying hello
As the night wrapped up, Julia prepared to leave when Christian walked up, said hello, and asked her name. The two had a short conversation.
“She was strikingly beautiful, and so I thought ‘Okay, I want to introduce myself to her,’” Christian said. “Then interacting with her, [she was] very kind, very sweet… I got to know that—wow, this is a very special person.”
Julia recalled being impressed by Christian’s courage to approach and say hi. The two exchanged numbers and soon began dating. Over the course of a year, they got to know each other “little by little” by spending intentional time with each other in community—including on a kickball team formed by a mutual friend they met at Faith Fitness.
During this period of dating, Julia and Christian approached their relationship with intentionality, remembering that—like Bishop Burns said in his talk—marriage is a vocation and an important one.
“A lot of things, we were aligned on—obviously our faith commitments but also what we wanted for family life,” Christian said. In November 2022, at Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Dallas, he asked Julia to be his wife.
In that moment, Julia said, she remembered “thinking back to my vocational discernment and seeing the Lord work through all of those moments and in our relationship.”
The two were married July 15, 2023, at Christ the King Catholic Church, surrounded by family and friends—the community they had fostered together.
Building a family
Now, the couple shares a cozy home with a colorful collection of books, a couple of guitars, a dog named Pippin, and their smiley four-month-old son, Joseph. More than a year into their marriage, the two are building their own “family of prayer, faith, closeness,” Julia said.
Reminiscing on their first meeting, Julia and Christian both emphasized the importance of getting out there and forming community with other Catholic young adults.
“There are many, many wonderful, quality, good young men and young women in DFW,” Christian said. “Young adult groups are a way for people from across multiple different industries and maybe working in different towns or parts of the metroplex to meet each other.”
Julia added, “Something that made a difference for me as far as building community and meeting different people was continuing to go to the plethora of events that Dallas offers.”
Both agreed that they were happy they made the effort to be in community back when they met.
“We both a few years before meeting discerned that we each wanted marriage individually and have built it together,” Christian said. “I’m really happy that we both went to that event.”
He added with a smile, “It’s been very, very special. I feel like I’m living the dream.”
Cutline for featured image: While attending a Faith Fitness Ministry discussion by Bishop Edward J. Burns on the vocation of marriage, Christ the King parishioners Dr. Christian and Julia Monsalve found faith, fellowship, and each other. Three years later, their faith and family continue to grow. (Amy White/The Texas Catholic)
