The reason people reject Catholic moral teachings remains quite simple.
To figure out that reason, and to know how to evangelize despite it, let us explore.
Many rebuff the Catholic Church’s prohibition on so-called “gay marriage.” Others cannot fathom the Catholic moral teachings on contraception. The Church’s hardline stance opposing IVF befuddles many, as well. The list could go on and on.
Yet, people’s disagreements over the Catholic moral teachings are too often insincere. They serve as excuses to perpetuate in sinful behavior, because it seems too difficult to change. We all are attracted to sinful behavior by way of our shared human nature.
THINK BACK
You know the story.
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, `You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?’
And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;
but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’’
But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die.
‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.”
This is the Fall, recorded in Genesis 3.
Adam and Eve knew the right thing to do, yet they chose to do evil. That is what it means to sin, after all.
This propensity to do that which we ought not goes by a fancy term called ‘concupiscence.’
We all share in this defect of our wills.
REJECTING CATHOLIC MORAL TEACHINGS TODAY
Modern people reject Catholic moral teachings in the realm of human sexuality, especially.
In my experience I do not find the defiance against the Church to be on an intellectual level as much as it is a matter of the heart.
Far more people reject Catholic moral teachings because they simply do not want them to be true than because they think the teachings are untrue.
Catholic author GK Chesterton famously observed, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
That saying can be applied to the Catholic moral teachings in the area of human sexuality.
DON’T BE FOOLED
Oh, deniers of Catholic moral teachings will disguise themselves in many ways. But don’t be fooled. If you ask enough questions, dig deep enough, and practice patience, you will uncover the truth. Their disdain for Church teaching is often because they can’t imagine giving up their sin.
They may pretend to be a history buff and club you over the head with arguments about the Crusades or the Inquisition.
Then again, they may feign real concern over priestly celibacy. But I am willing to wager no Catholic layman refused to enter the Church because his local priest could not marry a woman in the Latin Rite.
Such arguments are most often only window dressing. They do not lie at the heart of the matter. They are mere excuses for not correcting the underlying cancer inside the soul.
The cancer in question persists as obstinacy in sin.
Too often, men and women just cannot give up their vice. They can’t admit to you or to themselves their wrongdoing. Often, they can’t imagine life without that evil deed accompanying them along the way.
Catholic author GK Chesterton famously observed, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”
THE ELIXIR
The cure will not be easy to administer.
To do so requires time, patience, and humility. You must pass through the smoke and mirrors to arrive at the truth.
Your sister has left the Church, claiming she can’t trust the translation of the Scriptures. In truth, she is sleeping with her boyfriend and doesn’t want a weekly reminder she is living in mortal sin.
You may have a friend who mocks you for your Catholic faith, calling you a papist. He teases you in public at parties and takes every opportunity he can to tell you why you’re wrong to go to Mass. But it could be his offensive maneuvers to discount Catholic moral teachings serve as a defensive mechanism to the porn addiction he knows he needs to quit.
The girl ahead of you in the super market checkout lane who makes a snide remark about all your many children may be post-abortive herself.
You get the idea.
Just remember, while instructing the ignorant and admonishing the sinner remain corporal works of mercy, so too are bearing wrongdoing and forgiving trespasses. Be charitable. But for the grace of God, there goes you or I.
YOUR TURN
Do you have any advice to reach those who reject Catholic moral teachings?
Please weigh in below!
