Dear Anthony:

Well, there is no such thing as taking any verse alone. All verses of the Bible must be taken in the context from which it is written and in light of Biblical and Church teaching as a whole. To do otherwise is to risk misinterpretation.

Romans 3:23 uses a common language convention "all". This does not literally mean "all humans" any more than saying "all politicians lie" means that every single politician is a liar. Even one politician who doesn't lie destroys the proposition. "All" means "as a general rule", "many", "most", "with few exceptions", etc. depending on the context.

Here St. Paul cannot mean literally all humans. Jesus was human and he was sinless. Children below the age of reason do not willfully commit personal sins, and the Blessed Mother was also sinless.

St. Paul is directly referring to "all without distinction" (Jews and Gentiles alike, 3:9; 10:12). Being Jew does not mean a righteousness over the Gentiles (a common thought in those days that St. Paul deals with several times).

The overall teaching here is that falling short of the glory of God is the position of man "when he is in a state of sin. Because he has not the life of grace in him, he is not properly oriented towards his supernatural end, is deprived of the right to heaven that sanctifying grace confers, and consequently does not have these divine perfections which supernatural life gives him". (Navarre Bible Commentary)

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary