Matthew Kelly

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Does anyone know anything about Matthew Kelly. He is coming to our area to speak. Is he in communion with the church? Things like that
 
I read a book of his once: Rediscovering Catholicism. It was directed toward young adults, and he had a pretty good presentation. I didn’t think it was the most inspiring thing I’ve ever read, but I did not read anything questionable or threatening to orthodoxy. He strongly advocated traditional spiritual practices: Confession, Mass, fasting, rosary.

I guess he is supposed to be a good speaker, but I have not heard him speak. He’s a pretty good writer, and orthodox as far as I can tell.
 
I heard Matthew Kelly speak at the 2005 FOCUS National Conference. FOCUS is the Fellowship of Catholic University Students and is an orthodox organization. If they invited him to speak, I’m assuming that he is also in communion with the Church. I really enjoyed hearing him, and what he said agreed with the Church’s teachings. He talked about how the Church’s teachings are designed to make us “the best version of ourselves,” which was another way of saying that “the glory of God is man fully alive” and that through His Church, God has called us to “have life, and have it to the full.” He did this without making the Church seem like a self-help group, ephasizing the importance of prayer, fasting, and confession rather than just feel-good spirituality. If you can go hear him, it should be good.
 
Oh yes!! I’ve heard him speak once, & he was alright. He’s fully in union with all Catholic teachings, nothing misleading there. He has a cute Aussie accent…that was a plus. I forgot the point of his story…I think it’s how we…no, I really don’t know, but, I remember him telling this story of him eating all his brother’s chocolates. 😃 Anyway, yes, go see him, let us know what you think, but, this guy isn’t going to lead you astray.
 
My wife and I listened to a CD by Matthew Kelly today called “Becoming the Best Version of Yourself: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose” and were very disappointed. So disappointed, in fact, that I wrote to his publisher www.lighthousecatholicmedia.com requesting they remove this particular CD from their catalogue. I will also be contacting my Archbishop as well as my pastor to warn them against the teaching on this CD.

Kelly erroneously inserts his own trademark phrase “become the-best-version-of-myself” into the Word of God and the Magisterium, thus reducing the “Fundamental Principal” of Catholicism to his trademarked phrase, which, of course, is absolutely contrary to the teachings of Jesus, the saints and the Magisterium. I will be addressing these concerns of ours in a book I am writing called “The Gospel and the Anti-Gospel,” which will also be released on CD and possibly DVD. I have a Masters of Divinity degree from the University of Western Ontario (St. Peter’s Seminary) as well as over 10 years of pastoral experience.

Kelly appears to be an excellent and succesful businessman who likely does a great deal of good in terms of motivating people in the corporate world to higher levels of efficiency, productivity, job satisfaction and increased revenue. I’m sure I could learn many useful business principles from him. Theologically, however, many of his teachings have no scriptural foundation and, in fact, are contrary to scripture. To give one example: during this talk he speaks briefly of repentance, yet confuses the teaching by not even referring to the fact that it is sin we need to repent for: In Kelly’s teaching on this CD, it is only feelings of anxiety and drowsy hearts that we need to repent for, yet, neither feelings nor drowsiness are, in the Church’s teaching, sins.

It has been said, “One bad book can destroy a monastery.” The same can be said of Catholic teaching CDs. Matthew Kelly may well have excellent Catholic teaching CDs on a variety of topics. This is the first CD of his I have heard and it certainly is not something I would ever share with anyone due to its distortion of what true happiness is: e.g., in Kelly’s teaching in this CD “the happiest people on earth are those in vibrant relationships.” Now, this is not an exact quote, but it is pretty much verbatim of what he teaches. Jesus, on the other hand, teaches that we are truly happy when we “hear the word of God and keep it.” Kelly bases true happiness not on one’s relationship with the Lord, but on quality human relationships.

Again, I could point out numerous other flaws in his thinking, and I certainly will do this in my upcoming book. In Kelly’s corporate website, beresfordconsulting.com, his bio reads: “Kelly seems to effortlessly elevate and energize people to pursue the highest values of the human spirit and achieve their personal and professional goals.” This quote highlights a subtle, but telling, fact: Kelly elevates and energizes “the human spirit.” He is, for sure, a very motivaing speaker, much like Anthony Robbins.

But the problem is that he is applying his human success strategies to the gospel and teachings of the church and actually attempting to make them accentuate his “Fundamental Principle,” thus exalting human effort and downplaying the need for repentance from sin, reading the word of God, and placing Jesus at the centre of our lives. In his talk on this CD he says we have to place the “Fundamental Principle,” i.e. being the best version of ourselves" at the centre of our lives. This is a serious error: It is not ourselves or our “best version” of ourselves that should be at the centre of our lives, but Christ, and Christ alone. Jesus is the Fundamental Principle of our lives, the Word of God, Tradition and the Magisterium.

In conclusion, I would like to remind everyone that Jesus said, “If you wish to be my follower you must renounce yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” Jesus never said we should seek above all the “best the best version of ourselves.” This teaching is nowhere in Scripture, Tradition or the Magisterium (teaching office of the church) and it is a serious error to teach that it represents the “Fundamental Principle” of Christianity, Catholicism and life in general. “The man who loves his life loses it, while the man who hates his life in this world preserves it to life eternal” (John 12:25. “He must increase, while I must decrease” (John 3:30). “If you honor [the holy day] by not following your ways [or] seeking your own interests . . . you shall delight in the Lord” (Isaiah 58:13-14). JESUS is the "Fundamental Principle.

Peter Mason MDiv. BA Phil, MML
 
I respectfully disagree. I think you’re getting caught up in the words, not the message Kelly is trying to convey. When Kelly speaks of becoming the best version of yourself he is calling us to holiness. He is saying that we must embrace and live the teachings of the church and by doing so we will find happiness because we are fulfilling the purpose God gave us.

I fail to see how that is contradictory to the scriptures or the magisterium.
 
dal11 said:
Does anyone know anything about Matthew Kelly. He is coming to our area to speak. Is he in communion with the church? Things like that
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He’s coming to my area as well. Are you in the same area as I?
 
sarita said:
I respectfully disagree. I think you’re getting caught up in the words, not the message Kelly is trying to convey. When Kelly speaks of becoming the best version of yourself he is calling us to holiness. He is saying that we must embrace and live the teachings of the church and by doing so we will find happiness because we are fulfilling the purpose God gave us.

I fail to see how that is contradictory to the scriptures or the magisterium.
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The *message *Kelly is conveying is found solely in the *words *of the talk on the CD of his I was listening to. To examine his words and test them against Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium is not getting “caught up” in the words, but simply putting his words (a.k.a, his message) to the test. “Test all things,” Scripture says. Kelly, in his talk “Becoming the Best Version of Yourself: Living Every Day with Passion & Purpose,” does not present a biblical understanding or Catholic understanding of what holiness consists of and he also distorts the nature of the Church’s teaching by his erroneous assertion that his “Fundamental Principal” is the most important thing in Catholicism. Surely you would agree that when a person gives a talk on a CD, the words he is speaking are synonymous with his message? Please show me in Scripture or the Magisterium where Kelly’s “Fundamental Principal” is supported.
Don’t you find it just a little odd that his teaching, which states that the “Fundamental Principle” of Christianity, Catholicism, God and life itself is “being the best version of myself,” which just happens to be his registered trademark phrase?

Peter Mason
 
Myztery said:
My wife and I listened to a CD by Matthew Kelly today called “Becoming the Best Version of Yourself: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose” and were very disappointed. So disappointed, in fact, that I wrote to his publisher www.lighthousecatholicmedia.com requesting they remove this particular CD from their catalogue. I will also be contacting my Archbishop as well as my pastor to warn them against the teaching on this CD.
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Interesting. Our pastor invited him to speak at our lent retreat next year and our bishop is promoting the event among the other parishes in his dioceses.
 
Myztery said:
My wife and I listened to a CD by Matthew Kelly today called “Becoming the Best Version of Yourself: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose” and were very disappointed. So disappointed, in fact, that I wrote to his publisher www.lighthousecatholicmedia.com requesting they remove this particular CD from their catalogue. I will also be contacting my Archbishop as well as my pastor to warn them against the teaching on this CD. Peter Mason MDiv. BA Phil, MML
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Never heard of this guy Michael Kelly or even Peter Mason and probably wouldn’t walk across the street to hear either one. For his sake I hope Peter’s book is a lot easier to stomach then this harangue. Course I always have problems with folks having an MDiv or MA in theology. I have a Ph.D. in Chemistry and my Irish mother-in-law used to say that meant the same as BS only piled higher and deeper
 
Peter–you’re entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to continue to respectfully disagree with your opinion.

Nothing I have read to this point from Kelly is in any way contradictory to the teachings of the Church. If you don’t find his work edifying, then by all means avoid it.

My pastor recommended his book “Rediscovering Catholicism” and, frankly, I trust my pastor’s advice more than anything I read on an internet forum.

Peace.
 
rwoehmke said:
Never heard of this guy Michael Kelly or even Peter Mason and probably wouldn’t walk across the street to hear either one. For his sake I hope Peter’s book is a lot easier to stomach then this harangue. Course I always have problems with folks having an MDiv or MA in theology. I have a Ph.D. in Chemistry and my Irish mother-in-law used to say that meant the same as BS only piled higher and deeper
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I hope you do read my book. I’ll be sure to make it harangue free but I’m sure it will tick a whole lot of people off anyways.
 
sarita said:
Peter–you’re entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to continue to respectfully disagree with your opinion.

Nothing I have read to this point from Kelly is in any way contradictory to the teachings of the Church. If you don’t find his work edifying, then by all means avoid it.

My pastor recommended his book “Rediscovering Catholicism” and, frankly, I trust my pastor’s advice more than anything I read on an internet forum.

Peace.
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Jesus said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.” (Luke 6:26)

At the time of the Arian heresy, approximately eighty-five per cent of the bishops were Arians and subscribed to the Arian fallacy that Jesus Christ was not divine: i.e,“there was a time when he (Jesus Christ) was not.” So the majority of bishops have, at one time in the past, fallen into serious doctrinal error. Today there are also a number of bishops, priests, deacons, religious and lay people in leadership positions in open rebellion to the Holy Father and to the infallible teachings of the Church. I have personally witnessed them speaking and or writing false doctrines in seminaries, RCIA’s, prayer groups, Christian talk shows, Catholic newspapers, etc.

Cardinal Ratzinger lamented that since Vatican II the Church has gone from “self-criticism to self-destruction.” Pope Paul VI said"From some fissure the smoke of satan entered into the temple of God." (June 29, 1972, on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of his coronation). The Jesuit Fr. John Hardon refers to the words of Pope Paul VI in the following sentence:

In 1972 Pope Paul VI said, “Satan’s smoke has made its way into the temple of God…” Now, as we enter the third millennium, it is no longer “smoke” but a raging fire. Catholicism is in the throes of the worst crisis in its entire history. (Introduction to The Marian Catechist)

Dietrich von Hildebrand, whom Pius XII called a “20th Century Doctor of the Church,” warned:

But ours is, I believe the period of the greatest crisis the Church has ever faced, a period in which the anathema has become unpopular and is unfortunately considered as incompatible with charity, in which authority is discredited and many prelates do not use their authority to discipline priests who are teaching heresies. In such a period, every faithful Catholic who is fully devoted to Christ, to the teaching of the Church, to the deposit of the Catholic faith, to the dogmas, is called to raise his voice in defense of orthodoxy. In the first line of defense, naturally, are the orthodox bishops and priests; but the orthodox layman is also called (Dietrich von Hildebrand, The Charitable Anathema, pp. 33-34)."

Peace:knight2:
 
Myztery said:
Jesus said, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.” (Luke 6:26)
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That can be said about JPII. And your point is?
Myztery said:
At the time of the Arian heresy, approximately eighty-five per cent of the bishops were Arians and subscribed to the Arian fallacy that Jesus Christ was not divine: i.e,“there was a time when he (Jesus Christ) was not.” So the majority of bishops have, at one time in the past, fallen into serious doctrinal error. Today there are also a number of bishops, priests, deacons, religious and lay people in leadership positions in open rebellion to the Holy Father and to the infallible teachings of the Church. I have personally witnessed them speaking and or writing false doctrines in seminaries, RCIA’s, prayer groups, Christian talk shows, Catholic newspapers, etc.

Cardinal Ratzinger lamented that since Vatican II the Church has gone from “self-criticism to self-destruction.” Pope Paul VI said"From some fissure the smoke of satan entered into the temple of God." (June 29, 1972, on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of his coronation). The Jesuit Fr. John Hardon refers to the words of Pope Paul VI in the following sentence:

In 1972 Pope Paul VI said, “Satan’s smoke has made its way into the temple of God…” Now, as we enter the third millennium, it is no longer “smoke” but a raging fire. Catholicism is in the throes of the worst crisis in its entire history. (Introduction to The Marian Catechist)

Dietrich von Hildebrand, whom Pius XII called a “20th Century Doctor of the Church,” warned:

But ours is, I believe the period of the greatest crisis the Church has ever faced, a period in which the anathema has become unpopular and is unfortunately considered as incompatible with charity, in which authority is discredited and many prelates do not use their authority to discipline priests who are teaching heresies. In such a period, every faithful Catholic who is fully devoted to Christ, to the teaching of the Church, to the deposit of the Catholic faith, to the dogmas, is called to raise his voice in defense of orthodoxy. In the first line of defense, naturally, are the orthodox bishops and priests; but the orthodox layman is also called (Dietrich von Hildebrand, The Charitable Anathema, pp. 33-34)."

Peace:knight2:
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And how does that apply to Matthew Kelly? Any connection that you make to him can also be made to others as well.
 
rwoehmke said:
Never heard of this guy Michael Kelly or even Peter Mason and probably wouldn’t walk across the street to hear either one. For his sake I hope Peter’s book is a lot easier to stomach then this harangue. Course I always have problems with folks having an MDiv or MA in theology. I have a Ph.D. in Chemistry and my Irish mother-in-law used to say that meant the same as BS only piled higher and deeper
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I see. So spending years studying physical reality gives you useful knowledge, but spending years studying what Christians have thought about God is a waste of time? Either you have very little confidence in the human mind or very little confidence in Christian tradition, and I find both of these attitudes puzzling and (to quote Darth Vader) disturbing in a Catholic.

Edwin
 
Peter,

I have no clue how your response at all relates to my post. Are you making an accusation of heresy?
 
Matthew Kelly’s CDs and Books have inspired me to dive into the Catechism, the Bible and shed much of the worlds desires for my life. Listening to him as inspired me to seek the truth and live the faith… I have listened to many apologists and tried to understand all of the arguments but have never been inspired… Perhaps his methods are too simple or not theological enough; however I am a simple man. I am finding meaning in my life by letting the church guide me. Matthew Kelly is not a savior rather he gave me a nudge me towards the right path toward HIM! (How can that be wrong?)
 
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