{"id":60611,"date":"2016-01-26T18:03:26","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T01:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?p=60611"},"modified":"2016-01-26T18:47:44","modified_gmt":"2016-01-27T01:47:44","slug":"critics-of-matthew-kelly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2016\/01\/26\/critics-of-matthew-kelly\/","title":{"rendered":"Critics of Matthew Kelly?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since today is Australia Day<\/a>, I thought I’d write a few words about Matthew Kelly, an Australian evangelist and\u00a0founder\u00a0of the\u00a0Dynamic Catholic Institute<\/a>\u00a0who\u00a0has written many well-known books such as “Rediscovering Catholicism” and “The Rhythm of Life”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In recent months I’ve noticed an increasing number of voices on the Internet criticizing Matthew’s\u00a0work and organization.\u00a0After seeing some of these blog entries and Facebook\u00a0discussions, I’ve been left a\u00a0little\u00a0uneasy by some of the unbridled criticism I’ve read…<\/p>\n

\"RediscoverJesus\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rediscovering Jesus<\/h2>\n

A lot the the recent hubbub surrounding Matthew relates to the latest\u00a0book to come out of Dynamic Catholic, “Rediscover Jesus”<\/a>. Some people\u00a0are critical of the section of the book which discusses\u00a0Jesus’ Resurrection, since it\u00a0appears to deny the Catholic teaching of\u00a0Mary’s perpetual virginity:<\/p>\n

Was this some sort of vision, perhaps prompted by the apostles\u2019 grief over their leader\u2019s execution? This wouldn\u2019t explain the dramatic conversion of Saul, an opponent of Christians, or James<\/span>, the once-skeptical half-brother of Jesus<\/span>. – Rediscover Jesus (Page 99)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The text itself is not actually the words of Matthew Kelly, but an extended quotation from\u00a0an article by the well-known Evangelical author,\u00a0Lee Strobel<\/a>. Most blog posts omitted to mention this in their initial assessments of the book, but I was glad to see that clarifications were later added\u00a0when this was pointed out.<\/p>\n

When visiting a parish I do have to resist the urge to nitpick the homily and among my friends I’m notorious\u00a0for being rather pedantic, particularly when it comes to theology. As such,\u00a0I do appreciate it when the Faith is clearly and accurately communicated and in this respect I can appreciate the critics’ complaints about the passage. I think it would have at least been advisable\u00a0for Matthew to have added a footnote or a preamble to the article, clarifying\u00a0the Catholic Church’s teaching concerning\u00a0Jesus’ earthly\u00a0family. Ideally, I think it would have probably been better to avoid including the article at all.<\/p>\n

What I found troubling among the online discussion is\u00a0the assumption of intended heresy\u00a0made by many Matthew’s critics.<\/strong> After all, which of these seems more likely?<\/p>\n

Scenario #1:<\/strong>\u00a0Matthew is in open rebellion against the Church and is purposefully\u00a0denying the Catholic teaching<\/p>\n

Scenario #2:<\/strong> It was\u00a0an accidental inclusion\u00a0of an inaccurate term<\/p>\n

In every other respect, Matthew\u00a0has shown himself to be a faithful son of the Church. Therefore, doesn’t Scenario #2 really seem more likely?\u00a0Should there\u00a0really be cries of “Heresy!”<\/span><\/em> quite\u00a0so readily? Wouldn’t it be prudent to get clarification\u00a0from Dynamic Catholic before piling up too much\u00a0kindling?<\/p>\n

\"Kelly-Unhappy\"<\/p>\n

General Criticism<\/h2>\n

As I read the Facebook discussion threads and Comment Boxes, I saw more general criticism of Matthew’s work,\u00a0much of which I found somewhat bewildering.<\/p>\n

Pop Psychology?<\/h3>\n

Several of the complaints about Matthew involved a description of his work as “pop psychology”<\/span>. To what did this refer? When I asked, I was directed to Matthew’s regular use of the phrase “become the best version of yourself”<\/em><\/span>…<\/p>\n

Matthew explains the\u00a0history of this phrase in his book\u00a0“Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic”<\/a>.\u00a0In his earlier talks, he\u00a0noticed that when he spoke about the Second Vatican Council’s\u00a0“universal call to holiness”<\/span> (Lumen Gentium<\/a>), the eyes of his audience would glaze over. Then one day, purely by accident, he instead used the phrase “become the best version of yourself”<\/span>\u00a0and found that people started to become animated and engaged, so he continued to use the expression in his talks and books.<\/p>\n

To become holy, to become a Saint, is the same thing as to “become the best version of yourself”<\/span>, to become all that God calls you to be. It’s not pop psychology, it’s just plain old Catholic teaching with a shift in language.<\/p>\n

Shallow?<\/h3>\n

Another word I’ve seen used to describe Matthew’s work is unfortunately\u00a0“shallow”<\/span>. Personally, I would disagree with this assessment, but I would also say that if you would rather\u00a0sit down with Aquinas’\u00a0“Summa Theologica”<\/em> or Augustine’s “City of God”,<\/em>\u00a0then\u00a0you\u00a0are probably not the intended audience for many of Matthew’s books and DVDs.<\/p>\n

You will notice that the book and CD giveaways encouraged by\u00a0Dynamic Catholic almost always\u00a0take place\u00a0at Easter and Christmas. Why Easter and Christmas? It is because these events are the mission fields of the New Evangelization. Many of those who turn up at Christmas will have last visited a church the previous Easter! These people are\u00a0disengaged. They have probably not\u00a0read a single book about the Faith as an adult. They know\u00a0very little about Christianity. They find Mass boring\u00a0and the Catholic Church irrelevant. These are the people which need to be evangelized. As one person in a Facebook\u00a0discussion thread wrote:<\/p>\n

“As a convert and now ‘traddy’ I have to admit that Kelly’s books were good for me at the time I was discerning the Faith. His books appealed to my evangelical mindset and helped me to transition into deeper Catholic writings as my studies continued. Admittedly I feel I’ve gone beyond his stuff but I can see how this type of writing can spur folks onwards to Holy Mother Church.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I keep a couple of CDs and DVDs\u00a0of Matthew Kelly’s presentation\u00a0“The Seven Pillars of Catholic Spirituality”<\/a>\u00a0in my bag at all times to give out to Catholics I encounter who have fallen away from the Church. In his\u00a0talk, Matthew outlines what he regards as the pillars of Catholic spirituality:<\/p>\n

1. Sacrament of Confession
\n2. Contemplation
\n3. The Mass
\n4. Scripture
\n5. Fasting
\n6. Spiritual Reading
\n7. The Rosary<\/p>\n

I’d say this is a great,\u00a0accessible\u00a0primer for those who have either left the Church or are sitting on its margins. This presentation is also of great value to those more engaged Catholics. It was the first talk I heard by Matthew and it made quite an impact on me, particularly his explanations concerning\u00a0fasting and the Sacrament of Confession. In large part due to this talk, I started to take weekly fasting more seriously and committed to going to Confession at least once a month.<\/p>\n

Alternatives?<\/h3>\n

In the many discussions\u00a0I have read, many said that there are\u00a0better books\/CDs out there to give away…but rather unfortunately they omitted\u00a0to name any of them! It’s very easy to criticize and throw stones, but I would suggest that it is much more constructive and helpful to illustrate the perceived deficiencies\u00a0by suggesting some alternatives.<\/p>\n

The only suggestion I’ve ever received has been the Baltimore Catechism. Now, please don’t misunderstand me, it’s a fine catechism, but is that really what you’d give a lukewarm<\/strong> Catholic\u00a0who attends Mass occasionally?\u00a0I don’t doubt that many Catholics are poorly catechized, for a long time I was one of them, but I don’t think anything would have motivated me in the early days to sit down and plough through a catechism. It has been pointed out to me that\u00a0children<\/strong> used to read and memorize it, but it’s important to remember\u00a0that they were\u00a0made to!\u00a0I think it’s fairly safe to say\u00a0that few Catholics who regard the Faith as boring would countenance such an undertaking voluntarily. I would suggest that if someone is going to read the Baltimore Catechism, chances are that he’s already pretty committed to the\u00a0Faith.<\/p>\n

If you haven’t already guessed, I appreciate Dynamic Catholic’s work. They provide an impressive library of resources<\/a>\u00a0to help you find the right book, CD or DVD for the right person. Among their catalogue of materials,\u00a0you’ll find\u00a0publications\u00a0by the wonderful Philosopher Peter Kreeft, the well-known chastity speaker Jason Evert and, one of my personal favourites, the late, great Archbishop Fulton Sheen. If you want a single copy of anything publication, you just have to pay for postage. Alternatively, you can bulk order books and CDs, an absolute bargain at just $2 each. Many other apostolates such as\u00a0Lighthouse Catholic Media<\/a>, Word on Fire<\/a> and St.\u00a0Joseph Communications<\/a>\u00a0have adopted\u00a0similar programmes,\u00a0providing\u00a0affordable resources to invigorate your parish and draw people closer to Christ and His Church, and for that I’m grateful.<\/p>\n