We live in a culture of absolutes. As children, we knew the world as black and white. While that holds for reason and truth, the world is a complicated place. We want everything to be perfect and done in the exact right way and, if we can’t get it that way, we don’t want to spend any time on it at all.

Going to the gym once a month is better than not going at all. We won’t gain from the compounding effect of good choices over days, but our bodies benefit from any exercise. Eating 90% less sweets than we normally do is objectively better for our body than abandoning any attempts at regulation. Still, we want perfection that we will never attain.

This is part of the struggle with Catholicism. The Church has very clear guidelines, rules, and regulations that all find their roots in Sacred Scripture and Tradition. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our life in Faith, but Catholicism is not Eucharist or bust. If you are in a state of mortal sin, or otherwise not disposed to receive the Eucharist, you can benefit from attending Mass. Spending an hour in communal prayer, at the liturgy of the highest form, is good for you. A daily rosary is necessarily efficacious and a great target to aim for, but one rosary is good, too.

Too many of our assumptions go unchallenged. Our experience quietly influences our thinking with little fanfare, and our failed gym membership experience informs our faith life. Skipping Mass is not good, praying infrequently is not good. But praying today is the right step towards praying tomorrow, and if you can’t receive the Eucharist, going to Mass is still a worthy use of your day. Letting go of absolutes is a great way to start building the life you were made to live.