Chapter 23: Faults which deserve excommunication

If even this does not bring reform then excommunication should be the next penalty, provided that the meaning of such a punishment is really understood. (From Ch. 23 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)

Excommunication carries the terrible implication of shunning. But I imagine that Benedict creates some conditions around this extreme punishment to help a troubled soul appreciate the power and purpose of community. In my own life, habits of mind like judgment and alienation carry their own misery, not unlike shunning or being shunned, though maybe on a more subtle level. Meditation helps me to recognize these self-centered mindsets that draw me away from community.