Is Guilt Good? (The Patrick Madrid Show)

Olivia’s Question A listener named Olivia from L.A. wrote in to say that, ever since growing in her Catholic faith (thanks, Relevant Radio!), she feels a ton of guilt. She’s wondering: Is this normal? Is this just her conscience working overtime? Patrick explains guilt like this: Think of your conscience as a spiritual smoke detector. When there’s “fire” (a.k.a. sin), it goes off to warn you. Guilt is like the alarm saying, “Danger! You messed up. Do something!” Guilt keeps your soul safe by nudging you toward repentance and grace. Without guilt, your conscience would be useless, like a smoke detector with dead batteries. (Scary, right?) So, feeling guilt means your conscience is alive and kicking. It’s a sign that you’re growing in awareness and sensitivity to what’s right and wrong. What About "Catholic Guilt"? Patrick went on a little rant about the whole “Catholic guilt” stereotype. He’s not a fan. Really, guilt is just your conscience reminding you of the truth. If your conscience didn’t bug you after doing something wrong, you’d be in bigger trouble. For Olivia, Patrick suggests reframing guilt as a call to holiness. The more you grow in your faith, the clearer you’ll see where you’ve fallen short: not to shame you, but to guide you back to God. The Earwax Analogy Okay, here’s where it gets...unexpected. Patrick compares sin to earwax. Yes, you read that right. Here’s the idea: Sin can block your spiritual “hearing,” muffling your ability to sense right from wrong, just like earwax blocks sound. When you clean out your spiritual life (through Confession, prayer, and learning your faith), suddenly you can hear God’s voice loud and clear, and also notice all the stuff you were ignoring before. Patrick shared how, as a kid, doctors told him he produced an “abundance” of earwax, and every time he got it cleaned out, he could hear all kinds of sounds he hadn’t noticed before. He joked that sin is like that: once it’s cleared out, everything becomes sharper, clearer, and more alive. Takeaways for Olivia (and You!) Guilt isn’t about being neurotic or walking on eggshells. It’s about awareness. Think of guilt as a helpful warning system, not a life sentence. It’s there to guide you back to God’s mercy, not make you miserable. If your “spiritual ears” are clogged, go to Confession! Clear out the noise and start fresh. So, next time you’re feeling guilty, don’t stress. Just think: spiritual earwax. Clean it out, tune in to God’s grace, and keep moving forward. God loves you too much to let you stay stuck. 🙌 The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free, and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.