Lots of things are "licit", or don't have to be confessed in confession as mortal sins -- yet they are ANYTHING BUT conducive to our greater union with God, or an increase in holiness (charity). (By the way, that IS what we're all here for. NOT to experience as much pleasure as we can, or to "live life to the fullest". That is the world's spirit, not God's.)
Examples of things technically licit, yet unhelpful and/or hindering our union with God?
TV
Natural family planning
Rock music
acquiring lots of possessions/recreational shopping
obsession with sports
obsession with cars
alcohol
smoking
wasteful living (wasting electricity, water, food, etc.)
excessive convenience items
excessive climate control (so we can wear shorts in the winter)
staying indoors all day
excessive Internet use
lack of daily Rosary
lack of daily spiritual reading
lack of daily meditation
...and dozens more!
I bet none of these things are on your "confession checklist" -- but if you did ALL or even MOST of these things, you would be indistinguishable from any non-Catholic on the street. Your heart would be where everyone else's heart is -- and your speech would show it. Yes, you would go to Mass on Sunday, instead of the local "mega-Church", but your life would be in perfect agreement with the modern world.
Those around you would be in NO DANGER of being converted by your life. What does that say about the "goodness" of the above things, licit though they be?
Now we all know that the world is, and has always been, the MORTAL ENEMY of God and the Church. So how can we be such friends with the world, and still be friends of Christ? All the saints were considered eccentric and foolish by the world.
Now the hypothetical person who does all the things listed above should logically inherit ALL THE PROBLEMS that modern people suffer. Why would they avoid depression, marital strife and/or infidelity, divorce, rebellious teenagers, psychological problems, massive debt, stress, etc -- just because they got baptised in a Catholic Church? Just because they got married in a Catholic Church? It isn't quite that easy (if only it were!)
No, if we expect to escape the problems of the modern world, we need to first cast aside the WAYS of the modern world. And that is quite a bit more complicated than avoiding a laundry list of mortal sins: "No blasphemy? Check. No disobeying parents? Check. No murder? Check. No fornication? Check. Hey, I'm going great! And I'm not only a Catholic, but a TRAD Catholic, so I'm 80% saved already. If I can just keep avoiding these mortal sins, I'm a shoe-in for Heaven!"
By the way, the substance of my argument is from the classes of Fr. James Doran, SSPX. His special field of study is the family, marriage, and society. He often compared the "letter of the law Traditionalists" with the Pharisees of old.
In Christ,
Matthew