Now that we’ve discussed the creed, the foundation of what Catholic Christians believe, it makes sense to talk about the spirit of what it means to be Catholic. The first thing any Christian should understand is that we are not a perfect people. If we were, we wouldn’t have needed Jesus to come into the world and die for us. But we are sinful and need His saving grace that was poured out on the cross 2,000 years ago.
As a part of my continuing conversion I’ve realized that some of the most judgemental people, including myself…are Christians. Western society has created this culture of perfection. People don’t want others to know they’re not perfect. Christians especially want others to think they don’t struggle with sin. And possibly the worst part of this is judging others’ flaws. When we as Christians see other Christians who are suffering and falling into sin, often our first reaction is to judge them. But when we start to take an honest look at ourselves and how flawed we are…it becomes harder to judge others.
We Christians struggle every day with gossip, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual addictions and other sins. What separates us from non-believers is that we continue to try and overcome our temptations and we turn to the wonderful sacrament of confession for forgiveness and grace to be strengthened.
Our challenge is to not judge others and to love them with compassion instead. No one is perfect. We shouldn’t pretend we are either. That’s not to say we go tell everyone every sin we commit. But we need to not act as though we have everything together and live a live without struggle or trials. It’s not healthy for ourselves or to other people. Bottling up how you’re doing will only blow up one day, leaving the scattered remnants of what was once a normal Christian. Understand that we are all sinful, that we all need each other’s help and that God’s grace is always sufficient.