Rediscover Catholicism: A Spiritual Guide to Living with Passion & Purpose

This book helps you to think about your Catholic faith. It covers the problems of not only the church but the world as well. There are several themes repeated through out this book. I enjoyed reading on my Nook. I recommend while reading to also read around any of the bible verses mentioned it helped me to take home a stronger message. The book's translations of bible verses are modernized to fit the reading style. This does not take away from thier value or importance. The author does use a few sweeping brush stokes in making his points. At times his point lacks a compelling view or a good focus. Some of his explainations are just too simple and lack real understanding of life's complexities. Yet his challenges are awesome and not to be left unexamained or practiced. I truly loved his chapter on the saints and thier authentic lives. I read this book as part of a study group with my church.

For the first hundred pages I was skeptical; the prose wanders quite a bit, and reads like a motivational talk filled with generalities but little of substance. I kept waiting for him to dig in and tell us how to get from here to there. The overarching theme is that to revitalize our faith, the Church and the world, we must strive to become the "best versions of ourselves." It is a a worthy theme, but it took a long time to make every point; the book could have been cut by a third and still had the same impact. However, it is a worthwhile read for the chapters on the Pillars of Catholicism: confession, daily prayer, the Mass, the Bible, fasting, spiritual reading, and the rosary. Here, at last, he really delves into the rationale behind each of these practices. For instance, in the fasting chaper, he outlines the idea that true freedom can only be found when we are not slaves to the body. We would like to think our mind and soul is in charge, but the truth is that the body's desires are the driving force behind many of our actions. Many of the most self-destructive behaviors in our society are possible because the body is behind the wheel instead of the mind and will. Fasting teaches you discipline and frees you from the slavery to the body's desires. Once I got there, I understood his reticence to hit specifics. Every person's calling is different, as unique as the individual, and his goal is to show us a path to finding out for ourselves what that is. A valid point, I think. Overall: Well worth reading, but be aware that you'll have to wade through a lot of words to get to the point.

This was one of the most wonderful books I've read in ages ... I read quite a lot and try to read on different topics. This is a spiritual book and also written by a lovely Catholic man, but this would be a good book for any serious Christian to read. We can not deny that there is something seriously wrong in our world today, Matthew does an excellent job of telling us what it is and what to do about it. I just ordered 500 copies from the author to pass out to everyone I bump into.

This book is a treassure that synthesizes the Catholic spirituality in a very practical way. The book is fresh, easy to read and orthodox. Many questions that I had have found a solid answer. I hope you choose to read the book; read it slowly in order to meditate its content and when you are done, share it others EMaus

Excellent book for spiritual growth. If every Catholic reads and apply what is in this book, the Catholic church would flourish.

Reccomend to all Catholics!

Matthew Kelley makes you proud to be a Catholic!!!

How can anyone ever doubt God, the Church, or the purpose of our life on earth? Why do we keep turning away from the truth? How could i have ever thought my religion was silly or embarrassing? How could i not always recognize how amazing and beautiful my Faith was? I read this book and it was like somebody turned on a strobe light in my face: to bright to ignore or doubt. I am a teenager and i will remember this book my whole life. I truly rediscovered catholicism. Read this book and pass it on!!!

There are many challenges facing the Catholic Church, and these challenges are also faced by many other faiths throughout the world. Matthew Kelly touches so very briefly on many issues which have caused many people to leave the Church and abandon active Catholicism. We cannot ignore the issues of contraception, pedophilia by the clergy, divorce, etc. Our crazy lives have separated us from the values that many of us were raised with, and it is sad to realize how far we have strayed from our spiritual North Star, our True North. But many feel that the hard realities of life are in conflict with Church policies and Mr. Kelly skates over these issues and turns the onus onto each Catholic to resolve. His brevity on these issues does not help us resolve our inner turmoil and our inability to rediscover Catholicism as our faith. The sections on prayer, the Mass, the Bible, spiritual readings and the Rosary were good; however, some chapters were very redundant and repetitive, and somewhat preachy. Many of us try to live our lives through our faith. Do we really need to rediscover Catholicism? What we really need is to return to the core teachings of Jesus Christ, and embrace these teachings as the way we need to live our lives.

Great book that helps one dive deeper into their Catholic faith. Matthew Kelly is a fantastic writer. Easy read.  I actually read this with the College students that I work with. Very helpful.

Matthew Kelly has no formal theological training and it shows. If you want a book focused on warm/fuzzy private spirituality you will find it here. However, if you want  a Catholicism that challenges our cultural systems of privilege and patriarchy found in the Catholic tradition of social justice and necessary for full participation in our Catholic faith, don't look here.

This is a very good book with interesting ideas and often some very good advice. However he kills the message with his constant use of cliche quotes which tends to render the message a bit on the phony baloney side. By the end of the book I swear if I heard "be abetter version of yourself" again I was going to burn the book. It can all be summed up by translating the cliches into just be a good person and you will see a great change in your life. There, you just saved 14 bucks

Luv the intro

A force to be reckon with, the Catholic Church contributes many good things to society. Besides feeding, teaching, and pasturing millions around the globe, the Church is the largest institution on the planet. However in recent years, scandals and a lower rate of church attendance has called for a renewal of the faith. In Rediscover Catholicism: A Spiritual Guide to Living with Passion & Purpose by Matthew Kelly, the author tries to shed light to the basic tenets of the Catholic Faith. This book is an attempt to conjure and inspire a new generation of Catholics to reap the benefits of the Universal church. More than simply a Catholic book, Rediscover Catholicism: A Spiritual Guide to Living with Passion & Purpose by Matthew Kelly is an helpful guide to discover the spiritual part of our human existence.

This book is somewhat like something in the "......for dumies series"