For Father Ron Rieder
Long before it was popular, you recognized that
Dynamic Catholic could be something unique and powerful.
You foresaw the incredible possibilities that would be unleashed
by collaborations between Dynamic Catholic and pastors.
I know you have prayed and suffered unceasingly
for the Dynamic Catholic mission, and for me personally.
May God bless you and reward you a thousand times for your generosity.
Thank you for all your love and support. You will never know how
much your encouragement has meant to me.
For Kathy Aull
For fifteen years you have served me selflessly and lovingly.
Everything you do allows me to do a little bit more of what I do. I
simply could not have done all I have done without your contribution.
So I hope you will see a little bit of yourself and your contribution in
every book, every speech, every program, and everything Dynamic Catholic has done, is doing, and will do in the future.
Thank you. May your life continue to be filled with love,
laughter, and dreams come true.
Neither of you will ever know the impact you have had on my
life or on the ministry God has entrusted to me and
to the team at Dynamic Catholic.
I am honored and humbled to know you.
m.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthew Kelly has dedicated his life to helping people and organizations become the-best-version-of-themselves! Born in Sydney, Australia, he began speaking and writing in his late teens while he was attending business school. Since that time, millions of people have attended his presentations in more than fifty countries.
Today Kelly is an internationally acclaimed speaker, author, and business consultant. His books have been published in more than twenty-five languages, have appeared on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller lists, and have sold more than twenty-five million copies.
He is the founder and owner of Floyd Consulting, a corporate consulting firm that specializes in increasing employee engagement. Floyd offers a number of training experiences for businesses of all sizes along with a variety of coaching opportunities.
Kelly is also the founder of Dynamic Catholic, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit organization that is redefining the way Catholics are inspired and educated. Dynamic Catholics mission is to re-energize the Catholic Church in America.
In a time when traditional publishing is in transition and turmoil, he is also passionate about giving other authors a chance to pursue their dreams. He accomplishes this as the founder and CEO of Beacon Publishing.
His personal interests include golf, piano, literature, spirituality, and spending time with his family and friends.
My Journey with the Rosary
Im a practical man. Anyone who really knows me will tell you this. I like things that work. Ive nothing against theories, but I prefer ideas that actually work. People helping other people inspire me. Organizations that add tremendous value to communities inspire me. Theres something fabulous about things that work.
We know this best when things stop working. It is amazing how a phone or computer that stops working can turn our lives upside down. We have a habit of appreciating things most when they are gone. When I was really sick, I resolved that I would never take my health for granted again, but of course I do.
And we have this great expectation that things will just work. Sure, there are things that are broken in our country and culture, but even the broken stuff works pretty well. Are health care and education broken? Absolutely, but lets not take for granted the incredible good these systems are doing despite their brokenness. Is our political system in need of a good overhaul? Probably, but we still have remarkable order considering how broken it all seems at this time.
Visit any not so advanced country and you will very quickly realize that there are lots of places in this world where a great many things just dont work. You will most likely leave wondering: How do people live in these places?
Perhaps that is why I have a bias toward the practical, a massive bias toward things that actually work. The point is: I like things that work. I love things that work.
People often ask me questions about the Rosary. Do you pray the Rosary? Why? How often? Did you pray it as a child with your family? Does the Rosary really matter? How much? Do Catholics worship Mary? Why do we pray to her?
There are a thousand variations on these questions, but there are three things I always like to tell people in any conversation about the Rosary:
It works.
It will fill you with an incredible sense of peace.
Dont take my word for it.
The Rosary works. There is just something about it that settles our hearts and minds. It puts things in perspective and allows us to see them as they really are. It reaches deep down into our souls and puts us at ease, creating a peace that is rare and beautiful.
How many things can you do that will achieve what I just described? Go back and read that short paragraph one more time. When I say rare and beautiful, I am not just using words. I very much mean what I say. And it has been my experience that the only people who do not value that kind of peace are those who have never tasted it. If that is you, I am so excited for you. The Rosary is going to change your life.
But here is my challenge: Dont take my word for it. Try it for yourself. Develop a habit of praying the Rosary.
I dont expect that you will pray the Rosary once and say to yourself, Matthew was absolutely right. Praying the Rosary really works. My heart and mind are settled. Everything is in perspective now! I can see clearly what matters most and what matters least. My soul is at ease, and I have this untouchable deep and abiding peace.
No, it requires a habit. It may be something you pray every Wednesday night. Thats how I got started. It may be something you pray on the first Saturday of each month. It may be something you feel called to do every day. We will speak about how often to pray the Rosary, and the seasons of our spiritual lives, a little later. All I want to establish here is that to really experience the tremendous fruits of the Rosary, it has been my experience that you need to establish it as a spiritual habit in your life.
We live hectic lives in a chaotic world. All this can lead to a confusion that fogs the mind, unsettles the soul, and leads to poor decisions. Amid all this chaos and confusion, our souls yearn for peace and clarity. Are you at peace? Im not. Right now, sitting here writing these lines, but also in my life at the moment, I dont have that peace. Ive had a bad day. We all do from time to time. Its been a rough week. The wheels just seem to have fallen off in three or four situations, all at the same time. And its been a long month. I had to add a couple of trips unexpectedly to my schedule, my wife is seven months pregnant, one of my businesses is in transition, Dynamic Catholic continues to explode in a fabulous way but there are challenges with that, I havent been exercising, and I catch myself cutting corners in my prayer life.