Posts by Francine & Byron Pirola
Natural Fertility – Hey What?
Couples the world over are adopting Fertility Awareness Methods (FAMs – what used to be called Natural Family Planning) with new vigour as they access them via smartphone apps. And it’s not only conservative Catholics and alternative lifestyle naturalists doing so – ordinary couples who just want a reliable, chemical free alternative are the keenest…
Read MoreThe Divine Rendezvous
Recently, we came across this quote from Simone Weil, a 20th Century French philosopher, Christian mystic and political activist. “God and humanity are like two lovers who have missed their rendezvouz. Each is there before the time, but each at a different place, and they wait, and wait, and wait. He stands motionless, nailed to…
Read MoreRomance in Scripture
Why is the Song of Songs favoured by mystics? What is it about this book in the Bible that attracts so much attention? Surely the answer is that the language – poetic, erotic and sensual – speaks profoundly to the hearts of those who hunger for intimacy with the lover of our souls. This…
Read MoreSexuality – A Resource for Loving
Sexuality touches upon every aspect of our personhood, body and soul, and it is expressed as either masculinity or femininity. It is developed and expressed primarily through relationships. Our masculinity or femininity draws us into relationship and makes us attractive to the other sex. When we are attracted to another, our good qualities are brought…
Read MoreFlash Wedding – Short Marriage
Weddings aren’t getting any cheaper. According to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, the average wedding in Australia costs $36,200. Around half ($18,683) goes on the reception (food, alcohol, venue), with the balance going on clothing (~$4,000), photography (~$4,000), entertainment (~$3,000), flowers (~$3,000), the ceremony (~$1,000) and miscellaneous items like the car, hair, makeup and…
Read MoreThe Father-in-Law from Heaven
When we marry, we not only gain a spouse, we also gain a family including a father-in-law. When we marry in the Christian faith we also get a heavenly Father-in-Law. BEFORE you start wondering which happy husband or wife is blessed with such a father-in-law – our own are pretty good, by the way –…
Read MoreCommitted to Being Committed
A friend of ours is fond of saying in relation to successful marriage, ‘it’s a matter of being committed to being committed.’ In other words, we have to be serious about our marriage commitment, willing to tough it out when it’s difficult and put to the test. There’s a great deal of wisdom to this…
Read MoreDo Catholics Have Better Sex?
According to research by the Family Research Council, that’s a resounding ‘Yes!’ Drawing on data from a number of studies, devout, married Catholics have the best sex of any demographic group, says study author Patrick Fagan. He relied heavily on information from the National Health and Social Life Survey, conducted by the University of Chicago in 1992,…
Read MoreVideo: The Economics of Sex
It’s all about supply, demand and a little pill. Leave a comment and let us know what you think. Related Post: Mating market sheila shortages and man droughts
Read MoreWhat is Commitment?
A few years ago, we were giving a talk on chastity to a group of young people and some of them challenged us, saying that “sex before marriage was ok if you were in a committed relationship”. So we quizzed them about what defined a “committed relationship’. Universally, their answer was a measure of duration;…
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