Posts by Francine and Byron Pirola
Mixing Faiths
In a way, every marriage is a ‘mixed-faith’ marriage. Even within the same faith tradition, there can be different levels of commitment to the practice of the faith, different styles of prayer, even different ethnic expressions. We recall how creepy our Australian friends found the Catholic churches in Italy with the preserved bodies of holy…
Read MoreEcumenical Marriages
Jesus prayed that we “may all be one” in faith. Married couples of two different Christian traditions are perfectly placed to be living examples of Christian unity. They show the world the way forward to unity between the Christian churches. ‘That they may all be one’ ‘Ecumenism’ comes from the Greek word οἰκουμένη (oikoumene) which…
Read MoreCouple Prayer
For couples, one way to embrace a Year of Grace is to pray together as a couple. Based in the Sacrament of Matrimony, couple prayer is different to community prayer; it recognises that our intimacy and trust as a couple is directly related to our marital holiness. So the purpose of couple prayer is to…
Read MoreThe Grateful Spouse
If gratitude is good for building resilience in children and bolstering hope in adults, it’s close to a miracle drug for an ailing marriage. Here are three sure ways to use gratitude to transform your experience of your marriage from dull and burdensome to joyful and blessed. Daily Appreciation. So simple, but oh so important!…
Read MoreRestoring Couple Unity
What most often brings couples undone, is not one massive act of betrayal, but the myriad of daily pinpricks of hurt. Criticism, put downs, rudeness, small selfish acts, being taken for granted, independent decisions… it’s these little things that gradually erode the sense of connection and security in a marriage. Most couples brush these things…
Read MoreCouple’s Corner: November 2011
Who is King in our Marriage? God calls couples to place Jesus at the centre of our marriage – to let him reign over our decisions and our relationship. In St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, he says: Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (Eph 5:21, NRSV). It’s the language of…
Read MoreCouple’s Corner: October 2011
The Rosary as Awesome Couple Prayer Many couples pray the Rosary regularly; they find the simple rhythm and set format an easy way to reconnect with the heart of their spouse, a love founded in Christ. It is also a prayer for spouses under stress. When tempers flare, or wounds are deep, the Rosary powerfully…
Read MoreCouple’s Corner September
How Mums can Draw Forth the Best from Dad Despite that fact that nagging is totally ineffective in motivating the men in our lives to do want we want, we women are sometimes slow learners! Instead of trying a different strategy, what do we do? We nag harder, louder and more shrilly. And when this…
Read MoreAdvent Joy
Advent means ‘coming’. In the Church calendar this is the four week period before Christmas, the feast which marks Jesus’ coming into the world as a new born baby. Purple is the liturgical colour for this season reminding us that this period of joyful anticipation, is also a time for us to reflect on our lives and repent of any attitude, behaviour…
Read MoreThe Perfect Christmas?
The Holy Family may be the perfect family, but it’s doubtful Mary and Joseph experienced their first Christmas as all going to plan! If there is one thing that everybody associates with Christmas, it’s family. Images abound of grand family gatherings, delighted children, and relatives young and old enjoying sumptuous feasts. Yet increasingly, Christmas Day…
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