Blog
Practical wisdom, faith-filled insights, and real-world relationship advice for couples at every stage. Our blog offers practical tools and Catholic perspectives to help you love smarter. Explore topics including communication, fertility, forgiveness, spirituality, parenting, and more — authored by Francine & Byron Pirola and other guest contributers.
Mercy Gospel Reflection: Jan 10
Gospel Reflections for Married Couples 10 January – The Baptism of the Lord In this week’s Gospel reading, some people are beginning to think that St…
What is Happiness Anyway?
Part 4 in the Quest for Happiness Series Speaking of what makes a wife or husband happy (see SmartLoving The Equality Myth, What Women Really…
What Do Men Want?
Part 3 in the Quest for Happiness Series In all the discussions about what makes a wife happy (see Smart Loving What Women Really Want…
Mercy Gospel Reflections: Jan 3
Gospel Reflections for Married Couples 3 January – The Epiphany of the Lord In this week’s Gospel, the wise men visit Jesus bearing gifts.…
What Women Really Want
Part 2 of the Quest for Happiness Series If equality in work isn’t the answer for making happy wives (see Smart Loving, The Equality Myth),…
The Equality Myth
Part 1 of the Quest for Happiness Series Inequality in the division of labour at home has long been a sore point for married women.…
Marriage Enemy #1: Lethargy
We asked a marriage counselor friend of ours about why a marriage fails. We were expecting a long complex answer so we already had a…
Business Time
We were reading an article today about an African tribe that refers to sex as the ‘work of the night’. It made us think of…
Mercy Gospel Reflection: Dec 25
Gospel Reflections for Married Couples 25 December | Christmas At Christmas, we are called to reflect on the great love of a God who humbled…
Mercy Gospel Reflection: Dec 27
Gospel Reflections for Married Couples 27 December – The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph In this week’s Gospel, Mary and Joseph, without…
Mercy Gospel Reflection: Dec 20
Gospel Reflections for Married Couples 20 December | 4th Sunday of Advent In this week’s Gospel, Elizabeth is filled with joy and the Holy Spirit as she…
Mercy Gospel Reflection: Dec 13
Gospel Reflections for Married Couples 13 December | 3rd Sunday of Advent Saint John the Baptist in this week’s Gospel tells us that in…
Mercy – The Gift you Give Yourself
The Year of Mercy began on December 8 and forgiveness is in the air. Pope Francis has called this extraordinary Jubilee year to draw attention…
Annulments made easy…really?
In September when Pope Francis announced a reform of the annulment process, media headlines suggested the Church was stepping towards the acceptance of divorce. However,…
Being intentional about insurance for my marriage?
Someone mentioned the idea of marriage insurance to me recently in the context of a discussion about the value of marriage for our society. It…