Posts Tagged ‘Marriage’
Trigger Warning: You might not like this!
We write a lot of articles together. Usually one or the other will do the first draft taking the idea forward as much as they can. So far so good. It’s when it gets to the next stage that things often derail. We each have a distinctive writing style and we construct our argument using…
Read MoreStop Whining Already!
It might not be official church teaching, but the admonishment against complainers got as close as it’s possible to get when Pope Francis recently posted this notice on his residential door. Translated from Italian the notice reads: “You are forbidden to complain. Violators are subject to a victim mentality that decreases one’s sense of humour…
Read MoreFor couples, every day is ‘Passion Sunday’
A friend gave us a copy of a classic book the other day they had found in a street market: The Catholic Marriage Manual, by Rev George A. Kelly, published 1958. It’s in excellent condition and has that old-book smell acquired from collecting dust on a bookshelf for sixty years. In keeping with our perception…
Read MoreThe wrong kind of penance
It’s Lent again and time to think about reform in our spiritual lives by taking on some Lenten penance. But is all penance equal? The traditional Lenten traditions of prayer, fasting and almsgiving have been somewhat diluted by we moderns to very lame versions of what our forebears in faith used to do. Here’s what…
Read MoreTIME – The Currency of Relationships
There’s an old adage in the world of parenting advice: Kids spell LOVE as T.I.M.E. Kids don’t need things nearly much as they need a parent’s attention and availability. It’s a classic mistake that we make all too often; we give them stuff we’ve bought instead of the thing they most need from us –…
Read MoreSt Valentines Day 2017
For almost a decade, the Australian Catholic Marriage & Family Council has produced a printable flyer for use on the Sunday before St Valentine’s Day. This year, The Parish & Marriage Resource Centre is pleased to take up this task. Why the fuss about St Valentine? It’s true, St Valentine is a ‘minor’ saint in…
Read MoreThe day after the big day
Yesterday we celebrated our daughter’s wedding to a wonderful man and family. Our daughter Kiara looked absolutely radiant with an interior joy; her now-husband Doug, was magnificent – strong, steady and adoring. Their evident love for each other lit up the church and the celebration that followed. As parents of the bride we were afforded…
Read MoreLessons from Mr and Mrs Smith
Earlier this week the news reported that Angelina Jolie had filed for divorce from Brad Pitt. Together for over a decade and married for two years, the Brangelina match appears to be over. Irrespective of the reasons for the breakdown of their marriage (and why it is anyone else’s business anyway), every broken marriage is…
Read MoreHow to Help a Marriage in Trouble
Over our years as a married couple we’ve had numerous occasions when people have approached us about their troubled marriage. It hasn’t always been in the context of being the facilitators at the marriage seminar either – sometimes it’s just a friend looking for support or a family member needing a sounding board. What we’ve…
Read MoreAvoiding the Divorce Flu
A new study has documented what counsellors have observed for years: divorce is contagious. Just like a virus, divorce spreads among social networks and influences marriages among the divorcing couple’s friends, family and work colleagues. For example, got a divorced sibling? Your chances of divorcing go up by 22%. A divorced friend? Up by 147%.…
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