Chapter 25: Punishment for more serious faults
None of the community should associate with or talk to the guilty person, who is to persevere alone in sorrow and penance in whatever work has been allotted, remembering St Paul's fearful judgement when he wrote to the Corinthians that: such a one should be handed over for the destruction of the flesh so that the spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. (From Ch. 25 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
At first this passage sounds almost horrible to me, like shunning. But this is different; this is surrounding the suffering one with self-controlled love and respect and the means of redemption. Sorrow and penance -- silence and solitude -- these are requirements for self-knowledge, and for finding God within.
This reading comes after Chapter 21 on reverence in prayer and after all the chapters on praying the Divine Office. What I cannot offer to another person who is undergoing turmoil of the weight of weaknesses by my physical presence I can offer through prayer. "Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you across the water" of my weaknesses of heart and mind. The same mercy, compassion and loving forgiveness that I have felt I can pray that another will receive. Knowing that I am part of a large meditating and praying community I realize that the strength needed for myself and for every other member comes from the Christ within each one of us. All I have to do is ask in prayer.
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