By Francine & Byron Pirola We were taking a vacation to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary. As we settled in for the long flight, my husband pulled out the documents he had been working on – our wills. Apparently, leaving the family for ten days inspired him to update them as they were well overdue.
Byron & Francine Pirola It’s 3am and Bron and James are in a standoff. Their toddler has woken for the third time that night and is not interested in going back to sleep. Demand feeding worked well for the first six months, but now, she is 11 months old and the sleep deprivation is taking
When we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, Jesus’ body and blood is taken into our bodies, where it is digested and incorporated into our own flesh – we literally become ‘one flesh’ with him. That’s why we also call it ‘communion’, because we become one in body and soul with Jesus. Marriage lives this mystery
Surveys consistently show that having different approaches to the gaining and use of money is one of the top three challenging issues for couples. Why do so many couples find their money issues hard to resolve when budgeting is a simple skill that can be picked up by anyone? The answer is that our attitude
By Francine & Byron Pirola A Painful Reality While every marriage begins in hope and optimism, sadly, many marriages flounder and in a number of those, one or both spouses decide to end the marriage through a civil divorce. In some of these cases, due to mental instability, violence or other serious dysfunction, the Church
by Byron & Francine Pirola By its very nature Matrimony has the power to renew the Church and all of society. Matrimony is the vocational sacrament within which the vast majority of adult Catholics live, and yet its capacity for teaching, renewing and leading the Church is largely overlooked. All Sacraments reveal a dimension of
Is your marriage plagued by an unhealthy spirit of competition? Competition is part of human life and has many benefits for individuals. One of the most obvious is that it encourages us to extend ourselves and develop our abilities. There’s nothing like a bit of competition to push us past our normal limits. The dark
What's this Sacrament business all about? As human beings we communicate through our body; through our words, gestures, facial expressions, and actions. Communication is so foundational to human relationships that they wither when we don’t regularly make the effort to communicate. They also shatter when we use our words or gestures to hurt others. God
The difference between ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘forgive me?’ Saying ‘sorry’ is different to asking for ‘forgiveness’. When we say sorry to someone, it is an ‘I-centred’ statement expressing sympathy, but not necessarily inferring that we take any responsibility. As such, it requires nothing from the person to whom we say it. It is always good
Romance and Mystery One of the things that makes a new romance so exciting and attractive is the element of uncertainty: Is this person really interested in me? Will this person really be the one I’ve longed for? We can all relate to the thrill of the start-up relationship where the other is essentially still
