Hardest teaching?

[vwtaylorii]

Out of all the teachings the Catholic Church has taught for generations, what is the hardest teaching for anybody (Catholic or non-Catholic) to understand or accept?

To start off, I think it is the teaching of the Eucharist because Jesus disciples were following Him up to the point in John 6. It was so hard for the disciples to accept, they left.

 

[puzzleannie]

in practical terms, the teachings which pose the biggest stumbling blocks for those I encounter in RCIA and confirmation formation are those surrounding marriage, sexuality and family, perhaps because they are far more likely to have immediate ramifications on the specific life situations of those involved, and require great sacrifices to accept and conform one’s life to. They are also the hardest to combat with a strong apologetics approach, because so few of the Catholics who should be in a position to defend the teachings are not themselves fully accepting and practicing them.

 

[clmowry]

Yep. To paraphrase our former President “It’s sex stupid.”

At points in my life these teachings seemed “hard.”

In retrospect life would have been so much simpler had I simply listened to my Church.

Chuck

in practical terms, the teachings which pose the biggest stumbling blocks for those I encounter in RCIA and confirmation formation are those surrounding marriage, sexuality and family, perhaps because they are far more likely to have immediate ramifications on the specific life situations of those involved, and require great sacrifices to accept and conform one’s life to. They are also the hardest to combat with a strong apologetics approach, because so few of the Catholics who should be in a position to defend the teachings are not themselves fully accepting and practicing them.

 

[Katholish]

Rationally, I think that the Holy Eucharist is the least obvious.

I think that the Church’s doctrine of “No Salvation Outside the Church” is one of the most dissented from.

Contraception is also one of the most dissented from and it is also rationally one of the least obvious. However, I think there is an intuitive factor in its favor if one properly understands the Church’s other doctrines. (Which doesn’t apply in the same way to the Holy Eucharist).

 

[brianwalden]

I think the hardest teaching for people to accept is: I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me. Not recognizing or outright rejecting who God is and who we are is the root of all sin.

On a more practical level the teachings about our sexuality and the Church’s teachings about Herself are commonly rejected/misunderstood (and are often related).

 

[Lancer]

**The Hardest Teaching – it is giving personal assent in forming my conscience to all of the teachings of the Catholic Church…on all matters of faith and morals (the moral issues clearly dominate as the “hardest” )…that come from:

**** The Pope Ex Cathedra – The Ordinary and The Extraordinary Magisterium (Teachings & Declarations) – The Bishop(s) in Communion with the Pope and the Magisterium)**
**
In three (of many) paragraph(s)…the CCC says:

**

1783 ** Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened**. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and **to reject **authoritative teachings.

1785 In the** formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path**,54 we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our conscience before the Lord’s Cross. We are** assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit**, aided by the witness or advice of others andguided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.55

**2039 **Ministries should be exercised in a spirit of fraternal service and dedication to the Church, in the name of the Lord. At the same time the conscience of each person should avoid confining itself to individualistic considerations in its moral judgments of the person’s own acts. As far as possible conscience should take account of the good of all, as expressed in the moral law, natural and revealed, and consequently in the law of the Church and in the authoritative teaching of the Magisterium on moral questions. Personal conscience and reason should not be set in opposition to the moral law or the Magisterium of the Church.

Our Lord Jesus said it very clearly and bluntly…just a few verses from where last Sunday’s Gospel reading ended…(context: He has sent the Seventy-Two out to the villages to Preach for Him)…He says:

Luke 10:16 RSV-CE16 “He who** hears you hears me**, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who **rejects me **rejects him who sent me.”

Simply…for your consideration.
Pax Christi