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Holy Moments: A handbook for the rest of your life

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You have so much more to offer. You know it. You have sensed it for some time now. This sacred truth has been bubbling up in your soul. But you have never known quite what to do about it. All that is about to change. Some ideas are so powerful that simply becoming aware of them, changes our lives forever. Holy Moments is such an idea. It is profoundly simple, astonishingly practical, and once you discover it, your life will finally make sense. It’s time to let Holy Moments show you what is possible. It’s time to explore your soul-potential.

120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2022

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About the author

Matthew Kelly

187 books1,221 followers
Matthew Kelly is a best-selling author, speaker, thought leader, entrepreneur, consultant, spiritual leader, and innovator.

He 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, 5 million people have attended his seminars and presentations in more than 50 countries.

Today, Kelly is an internationally acclaimed speaker, author, and business consultant. His books have been published in more than 30 languages, have appeared on The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller lists, and have sold more than 50 million copies.

In his early-twenties he developed "the-best-version-of-yourself" concept and has been sharing it in every arena of life for more than twenty-five years. It is quoted by presidents and celebrities, athletes and their coaches, business leaders and innovators, though perhaps it is never more powerfully quoted than when a mother or father asks a child, "Will that help you become the-best-version-of-yourself?"

Kelly's personal interests include golf, music, art, literature, investing, spirituality, and spending time with his wife, Meggie, and their children Walter, Isabel, Harry, Ralph, and Simon.

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5 stars
1,515 (36%)
4 stars
1,405 (33%)
3 stars
920 (21%)
2 stars
276 (6%)
1 star
90 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 511 reviews
Profile Image for Maureen.
20 reviews4 followers
January 18, 2023
My church offered a copy of this book to parishioners as they exited Mass on Christmas. I was looking forward to reading it. I have listened to Matthew Kelly speak a few times and as a college student, was inspired. I’ve read other books he has written, even led book studies on them. My faith life grew because of his speaking and writing. I cannot say the same about this book. I believe the content would have been better as a short and sweet leave-you-wanting-to-get-off-your-bum-and-do-good-right-now blog post, but instead, the repetitive nature of the book left me tired. I have become very guarded against sensationalized storytelling, the kind that wants to incite big emotions, and the examples he offers attempt to do that. He wants us to be blown away by numbers and big ideas, which I find unfitting, since the concept of the holy moment is about humbling yourself and doing the next right thing in the next small moment. Matthew Kelly is a storyteller, he tells his own and other people’s stories, and I appreciate that, but he tells SO many stories, I start to question the legitimacy of them. That might sound silly, but it’s like my grandpa telling stories about his younger years - I just can’t decipher what is truth and what is embellished. Finally, I was a bit, disgusted, maybe? Harsh word, I know. But he kept mentioning requesting copies of the book and passing them on to others and creating a worldwide movement of holy moments and here’s my website and remember to request your copies and give this book to 3 people and then here’s the math to show how big of an effect you can have if you hand out my book. It felt wrong. I understand the need to market a book, for sure. But marketing within a book that is supposed to turn us toward our faith, fell flat. I’ve given very low ratings to a couple of books by Christian/Catholic authors lately, and I question if that says something about where my faith is at, like maybe I’m lacking/not faithful enough? But then I realized I’m critical because of what we’ve all gone through over the past few years - the news has become SO sensationalized and SO divided, and I’ve realized I can’t let that happen to my faith. I think I’ve learned what I want most out of the faith-based authors I read is humility.
Profile Image for Mary K..
929 reviews
October 13, 2022
Holy Reading. This book calls us to be kind and merciful, forgiving and rich in generosity, not in big things, but small. I read it at Adoration, and felt like my Guardian Angel was reading it to me.
Profound and Simple.

Profile Image for Christy Hall.
354 reviews84 followers
July 12, 2023
Matthew Kelly writes pretty accessible books about faith and prayer. Holy Moments: A Handbook for the Rest of Your Life is about how holy moments are key moments in your life where you can choose to make the world better one little moment at a time. Kelly proceeds to introduce the concept of holy moments, delve more deeply into what they could look like in our daily lives, connect holy moments with God’s plan for us and how we can make a difference in our own way. He calorifica what holy moments are and how they give us hope. We know the world is messy and it can seem like we won’t make much of a difference; however, he shows that making small ripples of good in the water can change the world. He blends story telling into his essays on holy moments. He tells personal stories from his life, stories told to him or seen in the news, and Biblical parables. While some sections can feel repetitive, he does try to have a unique slant in each essay. It’s a quick read and a good reminder to put good in the world, even in small moments.
Profile Image for Loretta.
356 reviews222 followers
March 12, 2023
When Matthew Kelly first started out I really liked him. He wrote books that had some depth and meaning but lately, not so much. There are two pages in this 116 paged book that, in a nutshell, could explain his “Holy Moments”, which by the way, those words “Holy Moments”, is mentioned ad nauseam on almost every page.
Profile Image for Andrea Phillips.
107 reviews21 followers
December 25, 2022
Holy moments is about Butterfly effect, or kindness will create kindness. A short reading to end the christmas eve thinking that love one another, treating one another with love and respect should never be old fashion values.
Profile Image for Isak.
82 reviews3 followers
January 1, 2023
Sentimental horking about and flattery disguised as piety. Somewhere there's a nude emperor more believable. Also, "Odysseus plugged his ears and had himself tied to the mast?" Friggin imbecile. No stars.
Profile Image for kathryn.
420 reviews3 followers
January 25, 2023
A family member was given this and I read this mostly in jest. On the one hand, I don’t want to admit to having read it. On the other hand, its high rating must be stopped.
This is the cheesiest, most self-indulgent, cringeworthy thing I have read in a long time. I think the worst part is you can tell the author believes he is breaking new ground here. He thinks he’s a genius for suggesting that you thank someone for doing something kind for you. No, that’s literally on his list of “holy moments”, I’m not exaggerating.
Profile Image for Kasia Elbers.
3 reviews
January 6, 2023
This book could have been one page long. It feels like you are reading a marketing ad rather than spiritual reading. The idea of "Holy Moments" is not a new one. It is written all over the bible and many great saints, such as Mother Teresa and Saint Therese have written about this concept. The whole book could in fact be summarized by a quote from Saint Mother Teresa "Do small things with great love".

This type of writing is not my cup of tea and I feel a little uncomfortable when people treat faith like a marketing scheme. But that being said, I know some people will enjoy this book and it will have an impact on them.
Profile Image for Patrick Joseph.
10 reviews
June 3, 2023
Normally, I don't write reviews. This book was about 116 pages too long.
Profile Image for Lori Hooten.
182 reviews6 followers
June 23, 2023
Not a spiritual book so beware when beginning. There are a lot of bits here that can be helpful in leading a good life, being a good person, being kind. But it is not about true holiness or finding holiness in the moments. There is some good ideas about how choosing the action of any given moment will affect the coming moments. But, again, it is not a spiritual thing and to imply that you are in "collaboration" with God is unbiblical.

Some good ideas but not a book I would recommend. If you choose to read through this simple book (it only took me about an hour), take the meat and spit out the bones.
Profile Image for Celia.
1,340 reviews203 followers
June 2, 2023
THIS is a Holy Moment:“Treat every person you ever meet like the second coming of Jesus in disguise.”

A Holy Moment is an act of charity. Do something kind for someone else. It may be a very substantial Holy Moment like giving up a day's salary for a sick co-worker OR a small Holy Moment like leaving a treat for hubby without being asked.

Matthew Kelly states that Holy Moments can have a ripple effect. You never know how many people have been touched by them.

I have recently figured out that acts of charity are necessary to get to heaven. Holy Moments are now a part of my life.

4 stars
1 review
September 22, 2023
I honestly didn’t even want to mark this book as read on my good reads account but worth it to give it 1 star. This book belongs on the shelf with every garbage “Christian” book promoting self to be amazing and powerful. Has dangerous and unbiblical prosperity gospel nonsense in every page. News flash, we don’t “collaborate” with God. The clay doesn’t collaborate with the potter. My high school English teacher would give this a C just for the extremely poor writing style alone. Couldn’t finish this book because of the above mentioned as well as if I read the word “moment” one more time I was going to explode. Do yourself a favor and don’t read this book. Read your Bible.
Profile Image for Nicoletta.
80 reviews1 follower
December 25, 2022
What a perfect little gift just in time for Christmas. This little book focuses on the message of being kind to your fellow human. There are no cringy Christian vibes or fanatical tendencies, it is a simple “small ripple, big impact”. This is a book I will be sharing with friends if they ask me about my faith.
Profile Image for Pamela Fernandes.
Author 34 books105 followers
December 25, 2022
Our parish gave us this book as a Christmas gift. It talks about the power of a holy moment and how you can begin a ripple through small moments of decision where you can collaborate with God. Highly recommend reading this book. Very powerful and transforming.
Profile Image for Ella ♡︎.
216 reviews14 followers
June 6, 2023
3 stars- idk wat to rate this honestly. I was either half asleep bcs i read it at night or half awake bcs i read it as soon as i woke up. Anywayz, i get the message. It’s cool. Some points were definitely made. I just felt like it was repetitive, like this guy is REALLYYY tryna instill his point to u lol.

(P.s future self, i read this during typhoon mawar bCS I HAVE NOTHING TO FUCKING DO N MY LAPTOP IS GETTING LOW BAT SO I CANT FINISH CHARLIE LOVE N CLICHES N I CAN HARDLY USE MY PHONE BCS NO POWER TO CHARGE NAKPUTA)
Profile Image for Revell Cozzi.
69 reviews
October 5, 2023
I got this book from my confirmation class so I read it but it was just meh.
Guess I’m staying a sinner idk
February 29, 2024
It felt like Matthew Kelly was trying to convince himself that "Holy Moments" is a thing this entire book.

He can't decide if his audience is Catholics or random people that pick up this book. Either way, he's not capturing anyone's attention.
Profile Image for Angela Price.
1 review
December 26, 2023
I just finished reading Holy Moments and I have to say this book really made me stop and think. This is one of the hardest times of the year for me and I'm reminded every moment is choice, a choice to be aware of what's important. Choices have consequences whether they are good or bad that affect those around us.
I particularly like the story of the Good Samaritan; doing something for someone else without any expectations in return. I believe this what life is about. If we all had this mentality, the world would be a better place.
This thought gives me hope.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Monica DeSana.
33 reviews3 followers
January 20, 2024
A reminder of how easy our decision to deliver small acts of good can truly make a difference on a larger scale...

I appreciate the perspective of being open to collaborate with God in our decisions and desires to encourage and be the light. I dog-eared many pages to come back to as a reminder when my light feels dim or defeated.
Profile Image for Christine.
31 reviews
June 1, 2023
I liked it. The message was nice, and I’ll try to practice it in my life. 😆 Me and my friends were gonna hang out to do literally what “spiritual multiplication” was all about two weeks about but this fricking typhoon came lol. I thought it was cool with how aligned it kinda was with that part in my life. I liked the examples and stories the author uses. Very easy to read. Practically read it in one day. 😃 Also, I might share this with a friend because it sounds exactly what she would be into, haha. Doing my part fr 😮‍💨🫡
Profile Image for Natalia Ryba.
5 reviews
February 2, 2024
This book is wonderful for anyone who is looking to dive deeper into their spiritual life and doesn’t know where to begin. It’s simple and easy to understand, but what conflicted with me is the repetitiveness of it. A lot of what Kelly said throughout the book could have been dialed down at least 50 pages or so. If I got a penny for every time he says “Holy Moments” I might genuinely have been able to buy my gas for the week. However it is still majorly impactful, and is a helpful book for any person to read.
Profile Image for Matthew Ocenasek.
49 reviews1 follower
Read
May 20, 2024
My grandma sent me this book - I love my grandma

It makes me smile thinking about how she hands out this book to her neighbors and friends (and grandson), inciting a goodness rebellion everywhere she goes

Call your grandma ❤️
Profile Image for Alexandra.
55 reviews1 follower
July 18, 2024
It's a quick read and I guess there are some things that are useful in fostering and spreading what he calls "holy moments"*.

Still, I can't get behind the core message...

"Holy moments are the solution to the world's problems." ... "Unholy moments got us into this mess and only holy moments will get us out of it." (page 67)

"Which of the world's problems would not be solved by holy moments?" ... "The world needs holy moments." (page 78)

Cringe. To all of this. The problem of sin can not be solved by holy moments, even millions or billions of them. So many places the word holy moments appears I want to replace with a name: JESUS. It is sin that got us into this mess and only a Savior can get us out of it. Jesus is the solution. The world needs Jesus. And If I'm gonna order and share copies of a book, it's gonna be the Bible. NOT this.

* The author capitalizes the words 'holy moments' (everywhere except the cover ironically).
Profile Image for Joanie Gramlich.
12 reviews1 follower
February 16, 2024
I picked up this book at church. It was a quick easy read with some really good thoughts & points. It was just a little repetitive though but overall pretty good.
June 5, 2023
Simple & practical but such a good reminder to really take advantage of the small moments to reflect the love, patience & grace of Christ to the world around us.
Profile Image for Stephanie.
37 reviews
January 5, 2023
Such a quick and easy read. So excited to start finding holy moments in my every day life and to talk to those around me about holy moments.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 511 reviews

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