Thinking over all the interactions Jesus had with others in the Gospels, could anyone picture Jesus telling someone that since they are confronted with "overwhelming life challenges" they need not follow the Gospel and put into practice His teaching?  Rather, would not Jesus transform such a person with His grace in order to be able to follow the Gospel?  It sounds like the bishop has a bigotry of low expectations and does not believe in the transformative power of Jesus Christ to free us from sin.