In many Roman Catholic churches across the country, lay people no longer receive wine at Communion, and some Catholic clergy have advised congregants not to shake hands or hug at the moment of the liturgy known as “the passing of the peace,” when parishioners typically greet someone in, and offer embodied signs of, the peace of Christ. In my own Episcopal parish, I was greeted by a neighbor last Sunday with an elbow bump. At a United Church of Christ congregation in the suburbs of Chicago, Communion servers now slice up bread into bite-sized bits before distributing Communion; they no longer offer congregants a loaf from which to tear a hunk of bread. In the interest of keeping fingers away from communion wine, communicants at All Saints’ Chapel in Sewanee, Tenn., are now instructed not to dip their Eucharistic bread into the cup but rather to sip the cup directly, since hands are often more infectious than mouths.
At Cornell University, the Episcopal chaplain, Clark West, has reminded worshippers that they will receive the fullness of the Eucharist if they receive only “one kind”””that is, the wafer and not the wine. “We have alcoholics among us for whom this has been the practice for years without any noticeably adverse effects,” quips Mr. West. To emphasize this, he has, on occasion, used a longer liturgical formula, which names the host as itself both “the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Less reverently, Mr. West has taken to calling the bottle of Purell hand sanitizer, which now sits prominently on the credence table, the post-modern lavabo. (A lavabo is the bowl a priest uses to wash his or her hands in the Eucharist.)
People are too freaked-out about this stuff. For example, my youngest child had swine flu (it was medically diagnosed) a couple of weeks ago. She felt poorly for a week, and that’s all. The other four people in the house were fine. Afterward, we all got flu shots.
Too bad. H1N1 – so far – is less lethal than the normal seasonal flu.
Too much media. Too much fear. Too little thought.
[i]In many Roman Catholic churches across the country, lay people no longer receive wine at Communion, and some Catholic clergy have advised congregants not to shake hands or hug at the moment of the liturgy known as “the passing of the peace,” when parishioners typically greet someone in, and offer embodied signs of, the peace of Christ.[/i]
In no Roman Catholic Church does anyone receive “wine” when partaking of the Blessed Sacrament. Perhaps the author will note that the Catholic Church solemnly professes transubstantiation and that one receives under the accidents of bread and wine. One might, of course, dispute this doctrine, but at least accurately report what the Church claims to be doing.
Reception of Holy Communion under both species is not required to receive “the Body and Blood, Soul & Divinity of our Blessed Lord” in its sacramental fullness.
The “Sign of Peace” is an [b]option[/b] in the [i]Novus Ordo[/i] and is hence not required under any circumstance (and abuses in its implementation are to be reprobated).
The safest way to receive wine during the Eucharist is by intinction, and I think it should be encouraged in all parishes and missions.
#5, in my parish we use leavened bread. Intinction is highly problematic.
Ridiculous. I remember the same predictions back when HIV was the great health crisis.
We risk so little as Christians in the US. The common cup is probably the least of a Pakistani Christian’s worries. Buck up boys and girls and show a little faith – Christ didn’t serve Doritos & dip.
Perhaps these two articles that I wrote for the [url=http://web.archive.org/web/20060209171446/catholica.pontifications.net/?page_id=890]Living Church on the Common Cup[/url] might be of interest to folks who are concerned about the alleged medical dangers of sharing the chalice.
Disgusting, disturbing and disgraceful. These priests are not worthy to administer God’s grace to the faithful. They need a congregation of one.
Did not Christ heal the leper? Perhaps the priest with the bottle of Purell should be in scrubs with a mask.
Intercessor
I might add that, according to all that I have read (and I ain’t no physician or scientist), the real danger is simply being in a closed room with people and shaking their hands. If folks are really interested in minimizing the transmission of the flu, then cancel church … and school … and work … and …
Getting the flu from the common cup is the least of my worries.
That’s interesting, Fr. Kimel. But while I still have breath, I and no on else will decide whether I sip Communion wine from a common chalice, or receive by intinction. A couple Sundays ago a very interesting exchange took place between the well-meaning, but perhaps scientifically not totally aware, rector of our parish and a Scots parishioner who (I am fairly sure) was Presbyterian originally, and has a medical background, as well as a distinguished WWII record. Even more than anything either man said, it was the independent-mindedness and clear cautious thinking on the part of the Scotsman, on a public health matter, that sent a message to anyone listening, that God has given us minds to use, and we should do so to his glory, rather than slavishly follow advice without seeking to understand its wisdom, or lack thereof.
How pathetic. Go and google communion + disease transmission. Notice the zero results?
Right.
Now, go play.
Silly. I have family members with reduced immunity for one reason or another who have cause to take the issue seriously and have not hesitated to participate in the common cup. I do think we should take training for those who serve seriously. But, I would be more worried about eating fast food than taking communion.
Communion has been going on in one form or another for (give or take) 2,000 years, and more often than not with a common cup. As admirable as Lauren Winner is on other topics, she is off-base on this one. The flu, no matter how drastic, will not fell the common cup.
Although I hear the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have suspended administration of the Chalice altogether in the CoE.
I am more worried about the ladies’ lipstick which floats like oil on top of the wine than I am about swine flu. Intinction is far less desirable, because the CDC and other studies have shown that disease passes easier via hands than lips. (Especially when careless people go two knuckles deep into the chalice – yuk!)
One curiosity though is if the Roman Catholic Church has taken more aggressive counter-measures to the H1N1 virus because their communicants are more likely to be without health insurance than common-cup Protestants.
Sigh. When will people realize it’s the coughing or sneezing layman next to you that is the danger, not the chalice?
Of course, if it’s a Zwinglian belief system (It might be the Blood of Christ, or it might not be; whatever you want) in action, then I guess (That’s Zwinglian, ain’t it?) you might want to be a little intinct-ual about things. If its *only* wine or grape juice avoid it. But I’d avoid that even if there were no flu! One can “Feed on him in your heart by faith with thanksgiving” without moving from this spot or eating anything. And, if one is that low down on sacraments, then rejoice; if you took communion within the last 12 months you’re in good standing anyway. The archbishops aren’t expected to get much beyond this.
At my LCMS church, we routinely take the wine in aliquots served in little cups. When I was at Advent I took the intinction option. In the hospital though we use alcohol swabs to kill germs so I am not too terribly concerned either way (and acknowledge that the alcohol in the swabs is more concentrated than that in the wine). Bottom line with communion is to remember that Christ has instituted this as a blessing for us. At the exchange of the peace, Pastor has given us the option of the nod instead of the handshake.