Though a Catholic since birth, I do not understand the concept of “Catholic guilt.” Many Saturdays I watched my nephews play basketball. During every time out and at halftime, their coach would point out all the things they were doing wrong. Often the referee would stop the game with a shrill whistle and loudly announce that some player had made a mistake, which cost his team possession of the ball. Yet, I never heard any complaints about “basketball guilt.”
The players understood that correction was as necessary as practice if they wanted to play well. Sure, they groused, but then they dusted off their egos and got back in the game. Why shouldn’t Catholics understand that it is at least as hard to imitate God as it is to play basketball? You make mistakes. You get called on them. You feel bad. Then you get back in the game and do better next time.