Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
(I Corinthians 5:1-8; Luke 6:6-11)
The sin of incest angers St. Paul in today’s reading (from
the First Letter to the Corinthians). He
notes that the sin has already caused foolish boasting probably over its
tolerance of an outrageous act.
Realizing that as a virus can kill the body, permissiveness of scandalous
sexual depravity may ruin a religious community, Paul calls for immediate
action.
He orders the community to deliver the culprit “to Satan.” He means that they expel the man from the
community and report him to civil authorities.
Although sexual immorality was rampant in Greek society, incest was not. As the local government would prosecute the man,
the community would pray for his soul.
Society in our time has accepted fornication and other types
of sexual sin. It has always been a
difficult issue to address. Even regular members of the Church sometimes turn a
blind eye toward it. We should see it
for what it is: a submission to passion that can have harmful effects on the
community as well as the individuals involved. It deserves stigmatization. It
is also important to remember that Christ has redeemed us from this sin and all
others. His grace will strengthen us in
temptation and forgive us in repentance.
