SMALL WORLD

IT'S A SMALL WORLD. MATTHEW KELLY, A CATHOLIC MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER, WAS BORN IN AUSTRALIA; MY DAUGHTER LIVES THERE NOW. I ATTENDED ST. GREGORY HIGH SCHOOL IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS AND GWEN CONIKER'S ATTENDANCE THERE WAS WITHIN ONE YEAR OF MINE. AT 19 SHE MARRIED, RAISED 12 CHILDREN AND WITH HER HUSBAND FOUNDED AN APOSTOLATE FOR FAMILY CONSECRATION AT CATHOLIC FAMILYLAND IN OHIO. SHE IS NOW BEING CONSIDERED FOR SAINTHOOD. THE "INFORMATIVE PROCESS" HAS BEGUN, THE FIRST STEP OF WHICH IS DECLARATION OF HER AS A "SERVANT OF GOD." "VENERABLE" IS THE 2ND STEP. SAINTHOOD, THE FINALE.

MATTHEW KELLY PREACHES, "WE HAVE TO START CHOOSING THOSE THINGS, ...THAT HELP US...TO BECOME THE BEST VERSION OF OURSELVES." HIS ASSUMPTION IS THAT WE ALL HAVE WORTH, THOUGH EACH PERSON IS UNIQUE UNTO HIMSELF OR HERSELF. HE PREACHES, "WE MUST BE CONVINCED THAT OUR FUTURE IS BIGGER THAT OUR PAST... NOTHING BRINGS A PERSON TO LIFE LIKE PURSUIT OF A DREAM.. A PERSON NEEDS TO HAVE DISCIPLINE AND 'SELF-POSSESSION.' PEOPLE NEED TO FAST, NOT JUST FROM UNHEALTHY FOODS, BUT FROM UNHEALTHY BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDES AS WELL." THIS WILL PRODUCE HAPPINESS. WELL, MR. KELLY HAS A DREAM; MRS. GWEN CONIKER HAD ONE TOO (SHE DIED IN 2002). NOT ME.

YET, MR. KELLY PROVES THE IMPERFECTION OF HIS OWN CREATION BY HIS FALSE BELIEF THAT THERE ARE UNHEALTHY FOODS. FOOD AND DRINK ARE GIFTS FROM GOD. THE GIFTS ARE NOT UNHEALTHY; UNHEALTHY IS THE ABUSE OF THEM. UNHEALTHY FOODS DO NOT MAKE US UNHAPPY; THEIR ABUSE BRINGS FALSE HAPPINESS. ONE OF THE DISCIPLINES MR. KELLY PREACHES IS FALSE BECAUSE THE MAJOR PREMISE IS FALSE. THE INABILITY TO MAKE THE DISTINCTION I POINT OUT BETWEEN UNHEALTHY AND UNHEALTHY ABUSE, MARS THE OUTLOOK OF MANY WOULD BE SAINTS TODAY.