Homily 9-9-24; Monday of the 23rd Week in Ordinary Time:
In our first reading today, we have the case of a man living with his father’s wife, his step mother. It is an incestuous relationship, which was considered to be even more immoral than the practices of the pagans. And yet the community in Corinth was silent, probably because the man was wealthy and influential.
St. Paul chastises the Church in Corinth for being silent and tolerating this immoral behavior. He calls for the man’s excommunication. He tells the Church: “You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh.” It seems rather harsh, but he then adds: “So that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.”
Excommunication is a punishment, but it is a medicinal penalty. The person is excluded from the sacraments; removed from the safety of the Church and the protection she gives against Satan. He is more vulnerable to attacks by the evil one. But at the same time, there is hope that this will lead to a reawakening, that the person will come to their senses.
There are many offences that demand excommunication. The one we talk about most often is excommunication for someone who procures an abortion. It is not something that is usually a public offence, but the excommunication is automatic. And so it is important for that person to repent and confess her sin so that she can be forgiven and return to the shelter of the Church.
But it is not only the woman who procures the abortion who is subject to excommunication. Canon #1329 states: “Accomplices, even though not mentioned in the law or precept, incur the same penalty if, without their assistance, the crime would not have been committed, and if the penalty is of such a nature as to be able to affect them.”
Politicians, and indirectly those who support them, who pass laws which legalize and facilitate abortions are therefore subject to automatic excommunication—without their assistance, crimes against human life would not have been committed.
I cannot judge hearts and souls, but one would believe that Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden and many other Catholic politicians have imposed automatic excommunications upon themselves. We need to pray for their conversions so that, as St. Paul says, their spirits may be saved on the day of the Lord.
The excommunications are automatic, but sometimes the Church needs to speak out and make the matter public when scandal is involved. This was true in St. Paul’s time and it is true today. Silence regarding the grave offences being committed by very public Catholic politicians leads to scandal and leads the laity astray by implying it is okay to support them and vote for them.
And there are many good bishops trying to do the right thing. I read a story about a Catholic woman in Corpus Christi, Texas, who was the director of an abortion clinic. In 1990, her bishop issued a formal, public, excommunication. In his letter to her, he stated: “I am obligated as a last resort to take this necessary step for the pastoral good of the local church and hopefully to impress upon you the need for penance and conversion.”
We need to pray for our bishops that they have the courage and strength to publicly call out our wayward Catholic politicians for the salvation of their souls and the souls of those who support them.