During her time at Trinity High School in Eagan, Rachel Hastreiter focused on her academics, friends and family. After high school, Hastreiter began focusing on romantic relationships, but nothing worked out.
“By the time I was (21) I was then starting to panic because I was starting to see people get into relationships now and people start to get married. And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, everyone is finding their person and I’m not finding mine. Is there something wrong with me? What’s going on?’”
While at a Seek Conference (an annual Catholic young adult conference) in 2024 in St. Louis, Hastreiter felt the Holy Spirit put on her heart that she should take a step back from dating, to stop looking so hard, Hastreiter told Rachael McCallum, producer of the “Practicing Catholic” show, for an episode set to air at 9 p.m. May 23 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
“Just enjoy where you are in your life right now,” said Hastreiter, 23, who lives in California but grew up in the Twin Cities, mainly attending the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul and All Saints in Minneapolis. “Because as one of my friends has said, it’s always seeming like the grass is greener on the other side. Just as singleness has its struggles, marriage also has its struggles. Like marriage is a beautiful, beautiful thing, but it’s not an easy path. It’s very easy to think that because of the season I’m in, I need to get to the next one because that one’s better. That’s actually not true.”
During a tennis tournament in California, Hastreiter heard the Holy Spirit again telling her to pursue her music, artistic endeavors and pour herself into the relationships she already had.
“I’m living life; I’m doing all these different things,” Hastreiter said. “That was the first time in the last four years where I truly was not panicking about not being in a relationship. And I was just content with where I was. Because of that and because I was working on myself, doing all these different things, that is how I then got into my (romantic) relationship that I got into in November.”
Hastreiter offered advice to others in a similar situation: Take things slow.
“Also be sure that you are asking that person really important questions,” Hastreiter said. “So many people are in marriages and relationships, particularly marriages, where they didn’t know certain things they should have known or they didn’t communicate about. Very important stuff. That’s crucial. Don’t wait for that for marriage. Start talking about these things now while taking it slow.”
To hear more from Hastreiter about finding peace amid transitions, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. May 24 and 2 p.m. May 25.
Also on the program, Kate Soucheray, a Catholic Spirit columnist, shares how lay Catholics are called to evangelize, and Bishop Kevin Kenney talks about Mary’s unique role in people’s lives.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, “Practicing Catholic” can be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
