The Problem of Lenten "Repentance" and Going Back to Worldliness After Holy Week is Over

One of the reasons why I had a faith crisis in Catholicism was because of how often it was to be in good behavior on Christmas and Lent. It was easy to see one's enemies getting kind on those two specific times then all the conflicts return after both seasons are over. It was very easy to get civil on Christmas season and Lenten season but the rest of the year isn't. Again, this isn't to condemn all Catholics to be guilty of doing such. Some Catholics are good people in human terms but still lost as they're still trusting themselves. I had some churchmates in my former Jesuit parish who are humanly speaking, good citizens. Some of them are celebrating longevity in their marriage, others are good housewives, others even condemn the hypocritical behavior of their fellow parishioners who live like they have a license to sin. Yet, these humanly speaking, good Catholics still wonder why such a problem persists.

The problem with being a Catholic lies in faith plus works rather than faith that results in works. The problem of the sacramental salvation such as the attendance of mass, rosaries, novenas, and the confessional with the priest. It has become so easy to get into "repentance" mode during Christmas and Lent then turn it off after both seasons are over. Some people can be seen walking while kneeling during Lent. Others are easily condemning others for eating meat during Ash Wednesdays and the Fridays of Lent (Colossians 3:16). Many are getting more proud of their ashes on Ash Wednesday (though it's allowable to wash it after the mass), getting arrogant about their abstinence from meat on the chosen days, some even abstain completely from meat during the whole holy week or even the whole Lenten season, and are even helping the parish in the activities. A pity really the average Catholic today (usually living as a decent person) usually has no idea of what's going on behind the scenes or the bloody history of their religion. 

The problem of some Catholics who enter into "repentance mode" during Lent is they don't know real righteousness. Paul addressed in Romans 10:2 the problem of ignorance about the righteousness of God and trying to establish one's own righteousness. These Catholics living very sinful lives probably think that they'll be okay to sin from Monday to Friday, confess their sins to the Catholic priest on Saturday, go to Mass on Sunday, then rinse and repeat all over again. Should it be surprising some Catholics are living in sin especially with all the sex scandals of Rome? I'm not saying that there aren't any sex scandals in the Baptist and Protestant circles. Rather, I'm pointing out how often the average Catholic today is left blank about it because the scandals are usually well-hidden.

The big problem that Catholics who are living like they have a license to sin (yet think they're such good people) lies in trying to establish their own righteousness. They probably think that any good they do during Sundays, Christmas, and Lent will off-set any wickedness they do for the rest of the year. Catholics who live decent lives need to understand that such behavior is a result of trying to establish one's own righteousness. Any Catholic living a decent life (and reading this) needs to see that they need saving as much as any Catholic living in sin. The reliance on rituals and holidays is nothing more than self-salvation. Self-salvation doesn't work because sin in itself is genetic. The ritual of infant baptism didn't wash away original sin either. The confessionals don't cleanse any person from unrighteousness either. The formula has been to confess directly to Jesus (1 John 1:9). Only Jesus' forgiveness can totally make the worst of sinners a saint. Catholics living decent lives still need that forgiveness because they've been trusting themselves and rituals when they should be trusting Christ alone for salvation instead.