I was just thinking that 18 year olds are not grown up, no matter how you look at it.
They are sɛҳuąƖly mature, and some of them might (with God's grace) be able to start a Catholic family of their own, but I think it would be the exception rather than the rule.
18 year olds are not physically mature. Generally speaking, a 30 year old looks like a man, while an 18-year-old looks like a cross between a boy and a man. I've never met an 18 year old guy whose chest is as broad as a 28 year old's.
When I was 18, I could grow a beard -- sort of. I am a pretty hairy guy, and had to start shaving at 15. But I have pictures of myself at graduation, and my beard was NOT done developing at 18 1/2 when I graduated.
And intellectual/emotional maturity? Hahaha. Where would I begin?
Maybe if we had a different culture, where men were pulled out of childhood early to start managing the farm/ranch/family business at 15, they would be more emotionally/intellectually mature at 18. But what parents today rip off the last few years of childhood, and make their boy grow up "too fast"?
To get a truly mature 18 year old man, it would take actions that most people would consider, "Poor boy; he had to grow up too fast." That's how modern sensibilities would look at it. And by modern sensibilities, I mean MOST OF US READING THIS. Weren't you raised in the modern world? Come on. You have more modern sensibilities and traits in you than you realize.
To give you an example, imagine a 15 year old being forced out of high school -- forced to quit all his friends and extra-curricular activities -- to come home and manage a farm with employees. Now be honest, what would you think? "Poor boy had to grow up too fast!" Exactly.
In the middle ages, life was hard and people matured "early" like that all the time. Not so much today.
Can you say with a straight face that "life is hard" today? Yeah right.
Indeed, young people are less mature today. Few 18-year-olds are ready for Catholic marriage. Some might be ready for a serious life-long commitment like Catholic marriage, but the exception doesn't disprove the rule.
Matthew