Love Is Always

Rating:
Summary: An interesting and well-written book.
Review: I'm sure that Father Joseph Andrew Jenkins' kind and thoughtful comments will make you want to rush joyously into the loving arms of the Catholic church.

Rating:
Summary: Promises to God are Also ALWAYS
Review: LOVE IS ALWAYS by Michael Miles is a book about a Catholic priest who marries a woman and then seeks to continue his ministry as a priest. While progressives might look upon the story as a challenge to Rome, it is actually an occasion for shame for those involved. Fr. Miles sidesteps as unloving and intolerant those who would criticize his actions. However, what he does is worthy of real rebuke and the publication of his scandal is evidence of his lack of repentance.

He violates his promise of celibacy, made to the bishop, but also by extension to the Church and almighty God.

He made both a priest friend and his bishop into accomplices in his ecclesiastical crime and seriously sinful matter.

While Archbishop Hunthausen was guilty by his toleration of a potential act of schism from the Holy See; his replacement, Bishop Curtiss, erred by his passivity in allowing the disobedient priest to remain in the parish and pretend, poorly it should be added, not to be a priest. It was a sham, pure and simple.

Since he was barred from marriage by his vocation, his bond with Joan was counterfeit, subjecting them both to a situation of sinful cohabitation and fornication. He risked damning, not just himself, but the person he claimed to love.

He sought to hide his transgression from the eyes of Rome, implying of course that the universal Church had no say over him or the enforcement of discipline.

He ingratiated himself and his family upon a parish and the pastoral council, leading to hostility between parishioners and Church authorities; threatening the Catholicity and the souls of the laity.

He reveals himself to be the friend of dissenters. It should be no surprise that not only does he question Church authority to impose discipline, as if celibacy is not a special love all its own, but the teachings against artificial contraception. I would not be surprised if he rejected the view that homosexual attraction is a sexual disorientation.

One good thing about the book is that it allows Fr. Miles to burn his bridges behind him. Even if the Church should relax the discipline regarding priestly celibacy, such renegades and heretics will never be allowed to function as priests again.

A false compassion and romanticism allowed something to happen that never should have started. Many priests who leave for a woman often get divorced; a sign that one broken promise often leads to others. LOVE IS ALWAYS, not simply until something that looks better comes along.

Sin and evil does not always wear a scary mask. Fornication and rebellion against the Church might be disguised as tenderness and freedom; but, it remains a whirlpool that threatens to draw us into the darkness. Feelings are important, but should never take precedence over human integrity, the value of obedience, and the imposition of the Gospel as proclaimed by the teaching authority of the Church.

Rating:
Summary: Promises to God are Also ALWAYS
Review: LOVE IS ALWAYS by Michael Miles is a book about a Catholic priest who marries a woman and then seeks to continue his ministry as a priest. While progressives might look upon the story as a challenge to Rome, it is actually an occasion for shame for those involved. Fr. Miles sidesteps as unloving and intolerant those who would criticize his actions. However, what he does is worthy of real rebuke and the publication of his scandal is evidence of his lack of repentance.

He violates his promise of celibacy, made to the bishop, but also by extension to the Church and almighty God.

He made both a priest friend and his bishop into accomplices in his ecclesiastical crime and seriously sinful matter.

While Archbishop Hunthausen was guilty by his toleration of a potential act of schism from the Holy See; his replacement, Bishop Curtiss, erred by his passivity in allowing the disobedient priest to remain in the parish and pretend, poorly it should be added, not to be a priest. It was a sham, pure and simple.

Since he was barred from marriage by his vocation, his bond with Joan was counterfeit, subjecting them both to a situation of sinful cohabitation and fornication. He risked damning, not just himself, but the person he claimed to love.

He sought to hide his transgression from the eyes of Rome, implying of course that the universal Church had no say over him or the enforcement of discipline.

He ingratiated himself and his family upon a parish and the pastoral council, leading to hostility between parishioners and Church authorities; threatening the Catholicity and the souls of the laity.

He reveals himself to be the friend of dissenters. It should be no surprise that not only does he question Church authority to impose discipline, as if celibacy is not a special love all its own, but the teachings against artificial contraception. I would not be surprised if he rejected the view that homosexual attraction is a sexual disorientation.

One good thing about the book is that it allows Fr. Miles to burn his bridges behind him. Even if the Church should relax the discipline regarding priestly celibacy, such renegades and heretics will never be allowed to function as priests again.

A false compassion and romanticism allowed something to happen that never should have started. Many priests who leave for a woman often get divorced; a sign that one broken promise often leads to others. LOVE IS ALWAYS, not simply until something that looks better comes along.

Sin and evil does not always wear a scary mask. Fornication and rebellion against the Church might be disguised as tenderness and freedom; but, it remains a whirlpool that threatens to draw us into the darkness. Feelings are important, but should never take precedence over human integrity, the value of obedience, and the imposition of the Gospel as proclaimed by the teaching authority of the Church.