Okay, we seem to be missing the point here.
Yes, if you sit around reading Playboy and thinking about the things you would like to do with the models in it, that’s sinful, even if you don’t actually, you know, commit any outward acts. But the reason that it’s sinful is that you are committing the act of lust, which (while entirely internal) is in fact an act. On the contrary, however, if you accidentally walked into one of Playboy’s photo shoots and experienced a moment of desire while you hastily backed out of the room, that would not be a sin, because you did not commit the act of lust. The difference lies in the intent of the person: indulging in the lust is sinful, while being human is not.
Thus, being angry at someone who cut you off in traffic is not sinful, while trying to cut in front of him in retaliation is (even if your attempt has no outward manifestation due to the circumstances). Hearing about your neighbor winning the lottery and wishing it had been you is not sinful; sitting around for days on end crying about how it’s not fair and you really deserved to win instead of him is a sin. Noticing that your neighbor’s wife is pretty is not sinful; fantasizing about sleeping with her is. It’s the (in this case internal) act of seeking evil instead of good that constitutes the sin.
Now, if the Church teaches definitively – let’s just say through a papal pronouncement made ex cathedra – that the reaption of cocharrammons in the presence of two or more afforgative armicres is a mortal sin unless an aneasens convolic agrees to recinginath the bisquestinters, and you just can’t bring yourself to agree with that statement because it doesn’t seem logical to you, and try as you might you just can’t bring yourself to agree that it’s a sin (especially because all of your worldly friends are reapting cocharrammons all the time, with and without afforgative armicres, and none of them ever bothers to get an aneasens convolic to recinginath the bisquestinters), you are not committing a sin.
… unless, of course, you reapt some cocharrammons in the presence of two or more afforgative armicres without an aneasens convolic agreeing to recinginath the bisquestinters.
But, in that case, it’s the reaption of cocharrammons in the presence of two or more afforgative armicres that’s a mortal sin. It is not the inability of your mind to agree with the Church’s teaching.
The OP on this thread has asked whether it’s a sin to hear the teaching of the Church and say – internally only – “But that doesn’t make any sense!” He has made clear that he is not acting on the disagreement; rather, he simply cannot bring himself to agree that a particular Church teaching is correct.
And you would deny him the sacraments? That is not the Church of Christ. He is bowing to the teaching of the Church despite his internal disagreement with it. That is most emphatically not a sin.
Q1. If someone disagrees with a teaching of the Church, does that mean they can be denied a sacrament?
Q2. If someone is for civil unions, can a priest tell me I can’t receive the Eucharist, or become confirmed?
Q3. If someone’s beliefs contradict the teaching of the Church, is that person not in a state of grace, and therefore not properly disposed to receive.
Q4. Is it a grave sin such that someone should be denied, or not receive, the sacraments?
There are two issues: Denial of sacraments by the clergy, and state of mortal sin. So can one be in a state of mortal sin by disagrement with a teaching of the Church. Yes. Can the clergy deny the sacraments with this disposition? Yes.
You wrote “The OP on this thread has asked whether it’s a sin to hear the teaching of the Church and say – internally only…”
There were three cases from the original poster: generalized, they are:
- If someone disagrees with a teaching of the Church.
- If someone is for civil unions.
- If someone’s beliefs contradict the teaching of the Church.
Disagreement and being in favor of something can be occult or public. A public manifestation can lead to denial of the sacraments. Also, scandal, even for something not sinful for the person, can lead to a sinful state or denial of the sacraments. The denial can occur for what is widely known by the public.
Merriam-Webster: belief
1: a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.
For beliefs one can be in a state of mortal sin by not believing what the Church teaches. It is not necessary to understand it, rather one should accept the teaching as true. Actual sin is any willful thought, word, deed, or omission contrary to the law of God.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:
Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.
2089 Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. "Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him."11
