Betrayed without a Kiss: Defending Marriage after Years of Failed Leadership in the Church

Written by John Clark

Narrated by Kevin O'Brien

The sacrament of Matrimony is under diabolical attack. While it is easy to blame the outside world for the demise of marriage, we must look at what has been happening inside the Church. The number of marriages have dwindled over the past five decades and annulments have skyrocketed. Many in Church leadership have been indifferent to these alarming trends and to marriage itself. Matrimony is rarely referenced during homilies, pre-Cana programs are often disastrous, and seminaries spend little time studying the sacrament of Matrimony. It has become clear that the sacraments rise and fall together—and they are falling in frequency and in reverence. Disrespect and disbelief in the Eucharist are largely rooted in a disregard for Matrimony. Indeed, if Matrimony is not protected by Church leadership, many members of the Catholic Church will be lost and abandoned. Yet, there is hope.

Betrayed Without a Kiss seeks to identify the critical marital problems impacting the Church while providing practical solutions to help both laity and clergy nourish Catholic marriage, solutions that will restore marriage to the glory that God intends for this primordial sacrament. There is nothing more romantic and glorious than a Catholic marriage that mirrors Christ’s total love on the cross for His bride, the Church. And there is nothing more noble than defending the sacrament of Matrimony because society and the Church will go by way of the family. To fight for holy marriages, even your very own, is to fight for Christ!

• Language: English
• Publisher: TAN Books
• Release date: Nov 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9781505133745

John Clark

John C. Clark (PhD, University of Toronto) is associate professor of theology at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. He and his wife, Kate, live in Chicago with their two children.