One of the most troubling things about being Catholic is the perpetual awareness that we are not as good as we could be. We do not do enough good. Every choice we make is never as good a choice as it could be.
If we put five dollars in the collection plate, we feel guilty that it wasn’t ten. If we say one Rosary a day, some demon or another will try to make us feel guilty that it wasn’t two.
There is no end to our shortfalls.
This frustration is used by the Other Side to lead people away. Demons whisper, “What’s the point of believing? There’s no way you can be good enough. There’s no way you can ever be as good as you can be.”
Even saints can be thus discouraged.
One tempting answer: Cheerfully say “I’m not as good as I could be, but I could be a lot worse.” This justifies our current position, but does nothing to make us better.
A better way: “If I’m being attacked for not being good enough, withstanding the attack is all I need to do right now to be better. After all, if the Devil wasn’t worried about my getting into Heaven, he’d not have wasted a demon to lead me astray. ”
Then, we ask God, His angels and saints for help in standing firm.
