Prayer, Mass, sacraments are tools needed to live holy lives

Matthew Kelly spoke recently in the archdiocese.

By Mary Ann Wyand

What would you say if God asks you whether you have read the only book he’s ever written?

That Scripture question and thought-provoking comments about prayer and the sacraments skillfully presented by best-selling author and popular motivational speaker Matthew Kelly challenged a capacity crowd of about 900 people to

re-examine their Catholic faith on Jan. 25 at St. Joan of Arc Church in Indianapolis.

Kelly, an Australian with an engaging accent and sense of humor who now lives in Cincinnati, packs churches and sells out retreats for his talks about God, Catholicism and contemporary life.

People of all ages filled the pews and late arrivals sat on the floor of the historic church for his fast-paced, inspirational and entertaining speech sponsored by the Indianapolis North Deanery.

Catholics need to become more prayerful and spiritual to find peace and clarity in their lives, Kelly said. “We’re no longer considered a spiritual people, and that’s why nobody takes us seriously anymore.”

Many people believe that Catholicism is “a lifeless set of ancient rules and regulations,” he said, “that has no relevance to their everyday lives.”

In his talk titled “The Seven Pillars of Catholic Spirituality,” Kelly said seven spiritual tools help Catholics rediscover the truth and beauty of their faith.

“Number one, confession,” he emphasized, smiling as the crowd laughed.

“Don’t kid yourself,” he said about people’s reluctance to participate in the sacrament of reconciliation. “You’re not that original. Try confessing in an Australian accent.”

Contemporary culture tells Catholics they don’t need to go to confession, Kelly said. “Our culture believes that sin and evil don’t really exist. … If you believe that, please go home and watch the 10 o’clock news. … Sin and evil are real in our lives, in our world. … The line that separates good from evil is cast down the center of my heart and the center of your heart.”

We have a remarkable ability to deceive ourselves and lose our sensitivity to sin, he said, so we need the sacrament of confession to keep us honest with ourselves because sin affects us negatively in physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and psychological ways.

Catholics don’t wait 10 years to wash their cars, he said, but might wait a decade to go to confession and cleanse their souls.

“The genius of confession is that it brings our dark side out into the light and then it loses its power over us,” Kelly said. “We need the accountability of regular confession. … It’s designed to help us become the best version of ourselves. It’s powerful. … If you want to feel a little bit of peace in your life, go to confession.”

He said Scripture, the Eucharist, prayer and contemplation about the life and teachings of Christ—including praying the rosary—as well as confession, fasting and spiritual reading are seven pillars of the Catholic faith that are powerful tools to help us live holy lives.

However, he said, most of the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world and 64 million Catholics in America aren’t attending Mass, receiving the sacraments or praying often enough.

During Mass, ask God to show you one way that you can become a better version of yourself, Kelly said, then pray about how you can live that out in daily life and write it in a prayer journal.

“If you do that every Sunday for a year,” he said, “you will completely revolutionize your whole experience of yourself, your life, your God, your Church, your spirituality, everything. … Our lives change when our habits change.”

When you die and face God, Kelly asked, “how are you going to tell him that you didn’t have time to read his book? I’m just curious about how that conversation will go. … We know that the word of God has the power to transform our lives.”

Father Guy Roberts, pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish, said after the program that he was happy to see the church filled with attentive listeners.

“We had people come from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and, of course, the surrounding area,” Father Roberts said. “I was very impressed with the way he was able to take our Catholic faith and make it practical for daily living … by being mindful of Christ and what we’re called to be as Catholics.”

Dr. James Scheidler, a member of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Indianapolis, said he and his wife, Maria, who raised eight children, appreciated Kelly’s remarks.

“We had heard him talk maybe 10 or 15 years ago when he was a youngster,” Scheidler said. “He’s much more polished now than he was then, but he was an excellent speaker then and he still is. He has a strong message. I think his description of the [sacrifice of the] Mass brought it home a lot as another way of being faced with the reality of God’s love for us.”

St. John the Evangelist parishioner Holly Snyder of Indianapolis, a cradle Catholic who was one of hundreds of single young adults at the program, said she liked Kelly’s suggestions to read the Bible and make a prayer journal “by writing down one thing from Mass that we learned that can help bring out the best things in us.”

St. Luke parishioner David Daniels of Indianapolis, a 40-year-old father of three children, described Kelly as “a modern-day apologist” who “cuts through the theological terms that confuse people as to what Catholicism is and … puts it in layman’s terms as a real defender of the Church, … articulating it so all of us can understand God’s true meaning and the wonders and the gifts of the Catholic Church.”

Daniels said he especially liked Kelly’s discussion about “how important the Mass is, how integral it is to our lives, and what it truly means to worship at the altar and to understand Christ’s true sacrifice for us.” †