Last Friday I had the awesome opportunity to go and hear
Matthew Kelly, a world renowned Catholic motivational speaker and best-selling
author at St. Leonard Catholic Church in Muskego, WI. Traveling with the Dynamic
Catholic Institute, Matthew Kelly and gifted musician Eliot Morris presented
the event, Living Every Day With Passion
and Purpose. It was the first time I had heard Matthew Kelly speak in
person and it was extremely exciting. He is such a powerful speaker and his
love for the church and its people is very clear. You could just sense the
energy and excitement through the entire church building.
I really felt that this event came at a perfect time for our
Archdiocese, our individual parish communities and especially in my life. Living
in a world of intense noise and distraction, a large majority of us, myself
included, get so caught up in what the world wants our driving forces and
motivations to be, that we lose sight of what we should be focusing on.
I struggle with this
a ton. I want to be the biggest champion for God, but I get so distracted by
what the world can offer me instead. I listen to the opinions that the world
has of me as a young adult Catholic and before I know it, I am heading down the
opposite direction from God. It happens to all of us. It’s hard to be focused
and engaged, when you live in constant noise.
Matthew Kelly brought up the point that, “if we as Catholics
want to live with passion and purpose, we need to have personal clarity.”
Personal clarity is the ability to know:
Who you are
What you are here for
What matters most in
your life
What matters least
It’s a huge challenge to be able to have personal clarity in
today’s culture, but God who dwells in the silence of our hearts brings us to
where we are supposed to be. Clarity moves through silence in the midst of a
world drowning out our passions and desires with noise.
To be more engaged Catholics and more complete human beings,
we need to separate our hearts and our minds from the world, and place them in
the silence that will bring a sense of wholeness and clear vision.
How do you make time for peace and quiet in your life?
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