When I did believe in Catholicism (it’s probably been about 10-12 years since) I understood this, even as a kid. You described it really well.

I was and still am a meticulous rule follower, so I think these “terms” actually helped me become a better, more reflective person at the time. I knew I couldn’t have one without the other, so I needed to learn that I can be wrong and do things that impact or hurt others, and I need to understand when I am and push my pride aside so I can genuinely make amends and not repeat the same behaviors going forward. It helped with my personal growth a lot, and it’s actually a positive memory I have from my upbringing.

However, the problem for me that made me break off are all the rules and views the church had that I didn’t agree with. My views on certain topics were too different from the church, and I knew I couldn’t reconcile that or follow their rules in a lot of ways, so I did my own research and drew my own conclusions, and came up with my own rules that work really well for me. Obviously I’m not out here murdering people or being an asshole to waiters; a lot of my rules still line up with basic human decency, and I don’t have any expectation of an afterlife, so I’m just out here trying to be a decent person because it’s what I like to do. So I agree that anyone can be worthy regardless of affiliation with an organization because at the end of the day we’re all humans and we should all try to be bros instead of being asshats.