I have noticed that in life there are sprinters and there are marathon runners. For one the goal is speed. The first one there gets the prize. For the other the goal is taking the journey. The prize is finishing the race.
One time I met someone who saw the perks of my "cradle Catholicity" and liked what he saw. I seemed pretty normal. I did not appear to be working very hard for my faith. My religious services were held in ornate structures with high, vaulted ceilings, pipe organ music playing, stained glass windows, and art so real that a person could step through the doorway of a frame and witness the road to Calvary. Sign him up!
I had to explain that Catholicism is more than the trappings. There is a covenant to uphold. We are Baptized with the Holy Spirit and Fire. We die to our earthly life with Christ. We journey down to the depths in death, and we rise with Christ, made new in Him. Because of that we are no longer of the world. We are on a pilgrimage here, journeying toward our real home in Heaven.
But can't I just be with you and have what you have? Skip to the end?
Not without putting in the work.
For by one offering He has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying: This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord: "I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them upon their minds." Hebrews 10: 14-16