Posts by Francine and Byron Pirola
Ash Wednesday Prayer
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, a day on which Catholics traditionally resist eating between meals (fasting) and avoid eating meat (abstaining). Many Catholics also attend Mass or have special prayer liturgies. Lent is a forty day period preparation for Easter. It reminds us of the forty-days that Jesus spent in the wilderness before he took…
Read MoreSeasons of Marriage
Marriages are in perpetual transition, growing, evolving, and cycling through periods of plentiful intimacy and barren despondency. In many ways, these are just like the seasons: Spring: is the season of growth and hopefulness. It’s when a couple can feel most optimistic about their relationship because it is growing vigorously and the future promises luscious…
Read MoreSpousal Gifts
It was 1985 and our whole family had gone to hear a talk by visiting Jesuit Father Charles Gallagher. He was proposing a radical approach to Christmas: cancel the bought presents and give gifts of personal sacrifice, affirmation, service and kindness. Instead of the usual toys, movie tickets, clothes or festive foods, he challenged us…
Read MoreSpiritual Guardians
Every person is created with a divine destiny: God created us for eternal union with him. Our earthly life is preparation for this union but all too often, we neglect our spiritual development through busyness and pre-occupation with the things of this world. Sarah was on a mission. Her husband had become ambivalent about attending…
Read MoreFive Ways to Love your Man
Men and women experience love in different and complementary ways. However, a woman will generally express love the way she experiences it, not the way her husband does. Most women primarily experience love through gestures of cherishment, while men experience love most powerfully through the medium of respect. Here are five ways you can nail…
Read MoreOverscheduled Couples
Too many marriages suffer from insufficient time. In fact, it’s possibly the single biggest contributor to marriage breakdown. There might be an affair or a falling out of love, but usually, these triggers are preceded by a chronic neglect of the relationship and it’s need for time and attention from both husband and wife. Whether…
Read MoreThe Charisms of Marriage
Sarah and Henry are passionately committed to growing deeper in intimacy. Following prostrate surgery that left Henry impotent, they persisted in seeking new ways to express their unity. Their joyfulness is contagious. Like every baptised person, married people are gifted by the Holy Spirit with charisms suited to their individual calling as Christians. However there…
Read MoreSelf-Control to Self-Giving
We all know that people with a capacity for self-control can accomplish amazing things in life – athletic prowess, academic excellence, financial independence, social revolution – pretty much anything worth doing in life benefits from a disciplined approach. It’s the same with relationships. Marriage, parenting, friendships – they all do a whole lot better when…
Read MoreFaithful
“I (name) take you, (name), to be my wife/husband. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life.” We hear these vows in movies and at weddings so often, that many of us…
Read MoreTwelve Ways to Say ‘I Love You’
In the spirit of the Christmastide, here are twelve ways to communicate your devotion to your honey. Use a dry erase marker to leave a message on your bathroom mirror. Write a love note, roll it up and insert it into a balloon. Decorate the balloon with markers. Using a deck of cards (in order),…
Read MoreHello? Is anybody there?
Have you ever had that experience with your spouse when he or she seems so distracted that you wonder if they are having an out-of-body episode? You suddenly realise that everything you’ve just said has simply floated off into the ether and not a word made an impact. Most times, we find this amusing –…
Read MoreMatrimonied Couples
Are you simply married or are you ‘Matrimonied’? People often point out that Catholics divorce at the same rate as the rest of the population. To the outside observer most Catholic couples look and behave the same as any other couple; by and large we live our marriages according to secular standards and goals. So…
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