Tag: Relationships
The passion, death, and resurrection of marriage
No marriage stays the same—we all go through periods of passion, death, resurrection and recreation. It’s not easy, but there are three things we can do to stay on track as our marriages transform, write Francine and Byron Pirola.
Francine and Byron Pirola: Contempt turns respect into de-spect
Contempt, the toxic cousin to criticism, has been identified as a corrosive relationship pattern among couples headed for destruction.
Francine and Byron Pirola: Vulnerability’s risky, but criticism kills
We’ve all experienced the negative impact of criticism, especially from loved ones. Sadly, it’s been present in our marriage and family far too often.
Francine and Byron Pirola: The Power of Why
Our three-year-old granddaughter has entered the ‘why’ stage. Parents everywhere know exactly what this is… the endless rounds of ‘but why?’ dialogue.
Sometimes, she just...
Don’t turn a blind eye to Family and Domestic Violence
The sad truth is that in Australia, eventually most women receive the phone call, from their daughters, their sisters, mothers, aunts and friends. The call that starts something like, “Hi, it happened again and this time he really hurt me.”
How Senior Couples Make Marriage Better
In a culture that glorifies youth and sanctions the euthanising of the sick and elderly, it’s easy to lose sight of the gift of...
Paul Catalanotto: An age in need of, well, chivalry
It’s hard to say the word “chivalry” without conjuring up images of knights in shining armour. It’s an idea that many would say seems...
Three Ways to a Resilient Marriage
By Francine and Byron Pirola
We’ve been hearing from many of our SmartLoving leaders around the world looking for help in supporting couples under stress....
Deep Impact Conversations
“How was your day?” It’s one of the most common questions couples ask each other and either leads to a dead-end response like, “fine”...
Dating game rules for young players
Dating can be complicated, but Catholic women can approach it creatively and with trust in God, writes Jo Hayes.
Paul Catalanotto: Loss of friendship
Are we keeping ourselves at arms' distance?
A while back, I grabbed a burger with a friend who managed to convince the waitress to give...
Francine and Byron Pirola: We married too young
Lots of people told us so. Neither of us had really experienced life: Byron at 27 had at least lived out of home for...
