When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, They have no wine. (And) Jesus said to her, Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servers, Do whatever he tells you. Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, Fill the jars with water. So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter. So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now. Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him. -The 2nd Luminous Mystery

Re: Excommunication


Question from Paul on 1/12/2008:

Hello Father Levis,

Could one be correct(and probably more precise)in saying that when one is excommunicated by the Catholic Church one is in a "state of damnation", or excommunication means that the soul is in a state of damnation?. - Granted this penalty is used by the Church to bring the sinner back into the fold and repent, if they choose to do so. But if one dies in a state of excomminication; however, only God knows if the soul will be saved?

Also, what are the sins already formally declared by the Church to put one in a state of excommunication?

I was told that even if a Bishop does not formally declare, lets say a person who directly procures an abortion is not excommunicated, it really does not matter, since the Church years ago states that this sin excommunicated the person(unless of course confessed and repented of)?

Also, for the excommunication of a public figure to be removed, is it not also required that the public figure (i.e., a Catholic politician who lets say endorses abortion and/or anti-lilfe laws) needs to also make a public declaration of his or her wrong thinking in order for the sin to be forgiven?

Thank you,

Paul

Answer by Fr. Robert J. Levis on 1/13/2008:

Paul, A very wide post! Church penalties are medicinal or corrective and vindictive or punitive according as they are primarily ordained for the betterment of the offender or as a punishment for his offense. Individual censures are excommunication, interdict, and suspension. An excommunication excludes a person from the communion of the faithful and carries with it certain other consequences. An interdict deprives the faithful of certain spiritual goods without their being denied communion with the church. Penalties are either "latae sententiae" or "ferendae sententiae" according as they are incurred by the commission of an offense, or must be inflicted by a judge. Hope this helps a bit. Fr.Bob Levis

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)