By Blanca Morales - Florida Catholic

CORAL GABLES | A few weeks ago, Catholic best-selling author and international speaker Matthew Kelly received the "best email of the year."

In the email, he said, Msgr. Michael Carruthers, pastor at St. Augustine Church and Catholic Student Center, recounted the growth of the university parish within the last five years as a “school of prayer and center for the new evangelization.”

He also told Kelly, author of "Rediscover Catholicism," that the entire community had been reading his books for the past two Lenten seasons.

On April 11, Kelly arrived at St. Augustine to speak on "Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose." The event drew 790 people from throughout the archdiocese, and some from as far as West Palm Beach, Fort Myers and Boca Raton. 

In the words of Msgr. Carruthers, St. Augustine was packed "with Catholics hungry to grow in their faith and on fire for the Lord and his Church."

Participants at the seminar were given a journal and pen, a hardcopy of “The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic,” a CD, and “Decision Point,” a student-friendly workbook designed for confirmation students.

All of these materials came courtesy of the Dynamic Catholic Institute, Kelly’s nonprofit organization that develops top-notch resources to motivate parishes and inspire people "to rediscover the genius of Catholicism."

Kelly is also a business consultant with Fortune 500 companies as clients. His books have appeared on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller lists.

As a result of his consulting work, he noticed that the Catholic Church has not made sufficient use of technology for evangelization. This has led the Church to be defined by the media — which is anti-Catholic and misrepresentative.

Corporations spend millions of dollars to develop marketing research for TV and video games, but how much is the Church investing?

The result of this, he said, is disengaged Catholics and dwindling numbers at Mass. Currently, only 29 percent of 70 million American Catholics attend Mass on a regular basis.

Relying on sponsors, Kelly began to develop films and apps for parishes to use for free, such as the Decision Point App, which features 72 confirmation videos that have greater appeal than “old textbooks with old photographs.” Using cutting-edge technology, Dynamic Catholic has begun to develop programs for marriage preparation and RCIA.

“Everything we do now will determine the fate of the Church in America. If we don’t act boldly, the U.S. will look like Europe’s lack of Catholicism. We need game-changers,” he said.

Through humor and repetition, the Sydney, Australia native spoke about ways in which parishioners can begin to live their faith on a deeper level, instead of falling into the pitfalls of mediocrity.

He called these steps “personal game-changers,” and he shared with those gathered how they can re-energize their faith life by growing in one of the following areas: reading the Gospels 15 minutes daily for a year; attending confession once a month; or prayerfully listening at Sunday Mass for a virtue to work on each week.

“Our lives change when our habits change,” he said.

He encouraged Catholics to be “the best version of themselves,” telling them holiness is not impossible.

“You were made for meaning; we need depth. That’s why we’re suffocating in this culture of dire superficiality,” he said.

Paola Moreno, a parishioner at St. Augustine, said she was struck by Kelly’s examples of individuals of different ages who have lived lives of passion and purpose.

“You are never too young or too old to do something great,” said Moreno, mother of a middle school student. She added that she was awed at Kelly’s zeal in “inspiring people to nurture a love for Jesus and the Church, making us all conscious of how easily we can become disengaged.”

“He is genuine, down to earth and on fire for Catholicism,” said Toni J. Pallatto, director of development at St. Augustine, who helped organize the event along with Msgr. Carruthers and campus minister Michelle Ducker.

"I believe Mr. Kelly's challenges to them, and his practical suggestions as to how to respond to those challenges, will be taken to heart and will help our parishioners, young adults, and students enter more fully their identity as disciples and witnesses of the joy they have encountered in Jesus Christ,” said Msgr. Carruthers.

The parish is already planning for Kelly’s return next year.

“I was so excited about coming,” said Kelly. “You all have something very exciting happening here.”