Love By Its First Name (Paperback)

This is a heart-warming and thought-provoking story of two people who, for different reasons, have kept their deepest feelings from arising - even into their own awareness. Strange circumstances bring them together and they find themselves falling deeply in love. But Jerry Haloran is a priest and now, having discovered LOVE BY ITS FIRST NAME, must decide what he is to do with the rest of his life. It is a spiritual journey that he could never have imagined. It all started when a teenage girl, Melanie Kurtz, made pregnant by her stepfather, begs him to obtain an abortion. He refuses and she commits suicide. He realizes that it is his own lack of compassion, rather than Church doctrine, that prevents him from helping her. A week later, while recuperating from a gun-shot wound, sustained while saving an abortion doctor at a demonstration, he decides to give a sermon condemning the Church teachings on sex. His boldness results in his exile to the small town of Paris, Kansas. Father Jerry throws himself into the work of the parish and he wins the hearts and minds of the parishioners where his Saturday evening youth Mass turns out to be the 'place to be.' His main problem is the attentions of a beautiful ex-nun, Kathy Olsen, who volunteers to help with the parish teens. He is further bothered by a cynical wise-cracking reporter named Rebecca Brady. She's in Paris on assignment to write an article about this controversial priest. In a panic, Father Jerry keeps his distance from both women until the beaten mother and sister of Melanie Kurtz show up at his front door. He finds safety for them but only with the substantial help of Rebecca. Jerry is surprised and unwillingly delighted to spend twodays with Rebecca in St. Louis. In examining his life, he asks: Did he become a priest so he could 'love' everyone but be close to no one? Somehow, he knew that being a priest meant that he did not need to feel-truly feel. And now he finds himself feeling