"The Catholic Church is enough."

I read this article from Bad Catholic the other day, and I felt really challenged by it. I often throw around words like liberal and conservative, traditional and progressive, and sadly they have become very much a part of my faith discussions too. The challenge to remember that Catholic literally means universal, and is rendered untrue by any sort of labeling, is a hard one!

I think the "faithful Catholic" modifier was the most important example for me, especially as we so often distinguish between practicing and non-practicing.

You relinquish your claim on “faithful Catholic” the moment you watch porn. You are unorthodox at the precise moment you snap at your children. “Faithful” can scarcely be upheld as a modifier until you’re dead, buried, and canonized. “Trying to be faithful,” maybe, but again, attaching this modifier to Catholicism undermines the fact that striving for faithfulness is implied in simply being Catholic, lending itself to the false idea that there are other types of Catholic to be.

There are many different devotions, lots of different music, and all the different languages of the world that celebrate Catholicism. It's a beautiful and diverse tapestry of people! But for those of us who call the Catholic Church home, we're all united by the fact that we're sinners, and we need Her to get to our heavenly home.