Spiritual intimacy shouldn’t be taboo

Religious practice and spiritual belief is often a point of difference for couples, especially if they come from different religious traditions. But having religious differences should never be a reason for avoiding a topic or making it taboo. Even for couples of the same faith like us, differences persist and make sharing our spiritual life…

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Love in the Waiting

Advent is the season of waiting; we wait in anticipation of the coming of Christ. But are we the only ones doing the waiting? I (Francine) was hurrying to get out the door for 7am Mass. I looked at the time on the car clock and sighed in defeat: 6:58. There was no way I’d…

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Undoing the Knots is Easier than you Think

September 28 marks the feast of Mary Undoer of Knots. The devotion is over 300 years old and is based on a Baroque painting by an unknown artist located in Germany. The painting features angels feeding a knotted rope to Mary who unties the knots one by one. It was inspired by an ancient homily…

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Say a little prayer for marriage

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In October a few years ago, the Australian bishops called the entire Catholic community to pray for marriage and family. The initiative was joined by around thirty other Christian churches making it the largest ever prayer campaign in the nation. It raises the question: does prayer really make a difference? Cynics might say that a…

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Making Marriage Permanent

Breaking up is hard to do. We all worry about the state of marriage today, especially with the decreased emphasis on its permanency. Divorce is hard. When marriages breakdown and families are fractured, it’s devastating for those directly involved, and heartbreaking for those who love them. The social impact of divorce ripples through our society…

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St Valentine and Revolutionary Marriage

St Valentine

It’s St Valentine’s day next week. This year, it coincides with Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent and a traditional day for penance and fasting. Oh dear! What to do?! Some think this is a pity; normally we focus on romance and joy for the lover’s feast and it’s hard to do that on…

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The 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 –…

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