MICHIGAN CITY – Kevin Matthews went from “being the Rolling Stones of radio” to a time when everything was going wrong to now being “(Blessed) Mary’s roadie.” He travels internationally with a broken Blessed Mother statue and Christ’s message of redemption.
Matthews spoke on June 13 to nearly 200 people at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church.
In the world’s eyes, Matthews had it all – fame and fortune. He was a Chicago radio personality known for shock-jock antics in the 1980s and ’90s. He met many celebrities, including Michael Jordan and Bill Murray. Matthews amassed millions of followers known as KevHeads.
His life wasn’t always fame and fortune, though. Matthews was born in a Catholic home outside Detroit. He shared that it was “tough in my house” with a father who liked alcohol.
“I remember literally going to bed at night saying, ‘God, God, will you please kill me? I just want to go to heaven,’” he recalled.
At the height of his career, while raising a family, Matthews confessed he was a “Zombie Catholic.”
“I made sure that my kids got the sacraments, and as soon as they were done with the sacraments, I didn't have to go to church anymore. Job done. If I did take my family to Christmas Mass or Easter, I made sure the priest saw me,” he said. “I know more than God. I will do whatever I think is best for me and my family. That’s the biggest con there is. I am the con of cons.”
When he was traveling between Chicago and Michigan for his job, the descent began. For nearly four years, he didn’t see much of his wife, Debbie, and their children. He lost his job, and a health-related crisis sent him crashing.
Matthews recalled that in 2008, “I couldn't move my arm. I couldn't move my legs. I thought I was having a heart attack or a stroke. I didn't tell anybody. That's how little self-esteem I had when I drove myself from Michigan to Northwestern in Chicago.”
The initial MRI indicated a possible brain tumor. He later learned that he has multiple sclerosis, which is incurable.
“I did take advantage of seeing my MRI,” Matthews admitted. “I said, ‘Look, Debbie, I do have a brain. And it's where it should be. You always say it's somewhere else.’”
In 2010, broken by his diagnosis and being fired from his job, Matthews decided to buy flowers for his wife. It would become a life-altering stop.
“There is no such thing as a coincidence,” Matthews stressed. "I get out of my car, and I look over to my left, and I can see a dumpster, and on the ground is a large statue of the Virgin Mary.”
“Coincidence? I'm looking at her. She's on her back, broken in half, no hands. She's covered in garbage, weeds, and sunk into the mud, so she's been there for a while,” Matthews described.
“I hear the voice of Jesus Christ, and he says to me, ‘Will you deny me? Will you deny my mother?’” Matthews shared. “How many times have I denied Christ? How many times have I denied my Mother?”
“For the longest time since I was diagnosed, I didn't pray,” he admitted. “But here I was, I was desperate. I quickly closed my eyes and said, ‘God help me.’ That’s what came out of my mouth. I have no idea where it came from.”
It took nearly half an hour to put the two pieces of the nearly 73-pound statue into his truck.
“I hate to talk about women's weight, but she's heavy,” he jested.
Within the statue, Matthews saw himself.
“I was attracted to this broken statue, this statue that was near garbage. I felt like garbage; I was broken. I was out of work. What do you do when you throw garbage away? You throw away things that don't work anymore. I could relate to the garbage,” Matthews said. “So, I brought her home. I made a little bed in the garage. I said, ‘Mary, I will take care of you for the rest of my life.’”
Matthews took the statue to be repaired. The repairman wanted to repaint her and restore her, but Matthews said, “No, she is broken, just like me. We all are broken and in need of repair. She represents the broken.”
This statue of Our Lady of Lourdes has become “Our Lady of the Broken.”
On Feb. 11, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Pope Leo XIV blessed the statue, making it an icon. He asked Matthews why he kept the broken statue.
“She reminds me of me,” Matthews said, “that we're all broken, but we're loved by God.”
A Vatican press release quoted Pope Leo saying: “How many people — perhaps we ourselves – feel like they are worthless or broken. It is as if their light has been hidden. Jesus, however, proclaims a God who will never throw us away.”
The statue rode next to the pilot on the flight to Rome.
Matthews continues to spread the relevance of the statue. He travels and has a podcast, a rosary app, published books, and the Broken Mary movie.
He said that the Blessed Mother calls everyone to become a missionary of healing.
“I want to tell you what saved my life: The rosary, first of all. You can hear me recite the rosary on my free app,” Matthews said. “I'm listening to my mother. The rosary is Mary's umbilical cord. I want you to know that it is alive, it's her umbilical cord, it's how she feeds us Jesus.”
He also stressed the importance of the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist.
“(Through the Eucharist) we are physically with Jesus Christ. Do you know how powerful you are after you receive the Eucharist?” remarked Matthews.
“God does work miracles,” said Matthews. “If you have a hunch, that's the Holy Spirit. If you hear something tell you, that's the Holy Spirit. Miracles don't just happen to me: They happen to you. You're baptized. We're in a good church, established in 33 A.D. by Jesus Christ himself.”
For more information, visit https://brokenmary.com/
