Are There Asthma Triggers On The Sacramental Chalice?
A friend asked how I come up with blog post ideas. I said that there are all sorts of strategies I use. I said sometimes I just tell stories from my asthma past. Sometimes I teach on a certain subject. Although, sometimes I just get ideas from things I do in my everyday life. For example, today I went to a funeral.
What does a funeral have to do with asthma?
Well, nothing really.
Except, during Mass, we receive the Eucharist. This is a celebration of the Last Supper Jesus had with His Apostles. We receive the Body of Christ. In Catholic and Lutheran Masses, this consists of a blessed wafer. Then we receive the Blood of Christ. This is usually red wine.
Today’s funeral was at a Lutheran Church. Their Mass isn’t much different than the Catholic Mass I’m used to. And, you guessed right, this gave me an idea for this post.
Again, you may be asking a question here. It may go along the lines of, “What the heck does the Eucharist have to do with asthma?”
The immediate answer again here is: “Nothing.”
So, what’s my point?
But, what if someone in church is sick? The body of Christ, that’s probably fine. That is, unless the Priest, Father, Pastor, or Eucharistic Minister (Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion) has something contagious and failed to wash his or her hands.
The Blood of Christ is what I worry about. In the Catholic church, we sip from the Sacramental Cup or Chalice. We all sip from the same chalice. I was told by the Priest you can put your lips to the cup and not drink. This is fine. I think that’s fine if you don’t want to drink alcoholic beverages. But, you can also refuse to take the blood. That’s okay too.
In a Lutheran Church, at least the one I attended at the funeral this morning, you can sip or dip your wafer into the sacramental wine. Both are acceptable, so we were told by the Pastor.
Is it safe to drink from the communion cup?
My point might just be in my head. Well, literally--if I catch a cold. That’s my fear. As I'm an asthmatic, respiratory virus is my most serious asthma triggers. They can wipe me out and end me up at the doctor’s office or even the ER. They could do much worse, too. And you know what I mean by that.
But, it’s fear of catching germs. Of course, you're in church, so you might catch germs anytime someone coughs or sneezes. But, I’m mostly concerned with catching germs from the Sacramental Cup.
The Father at my church discussed this topic during a Homily once. He said he wants more people to drink from the Sacramental Wine. He said, as Catholics, we believe we are actually consuming the Holy Body and the Holy Blood. So, we should want to consume it.
“Besides,” he said, “If there’s anything left in the cup after Communion, I have to drink it ALLLL up. And that, as you know, can make a person goofy in the head.”
Many in the Congregation laughed at that line.
“But,” he added, “I have done this for years and have never gotten sick from it.”
He discussed the fear of catching germs from the Sacramental cup. But, he said, studies show it’s rare to catch germs this way. So, he said, we should feel safe participating in communion.
What does science say on this holy matter?
You know a Priest cannot lie. So, you are hard-pressed to think what he says isn’t true. He is a Healer, after all. But, then again, He is no health expert. By that, I mean he is not a doctor. He is not a scientist. So, initially, I decided to play it safe and skip the blood, despite what he said.
But, then I did some research. This topic has even been discussed by the CDC. I would think they, like my Priest, are very credible in this matter. They note:
“Within the CDC, the consensus of the National Center for Infectious Diseases and the National Center for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and Tuberculosis are that a theoretic risk of transmitting infectious diseases by using a common communion cup exists, but that the risk is so small that it is undetectable."1
So, I think our Priest was absolutely correct. You probably are safe to drink from the communion cup.
What do I do now?
I went 20 years not drinking the blood of Christ. I did this out of fear. And, I suppose, out of ignorance of the facts on the matter. Today, I usually drink from the blessed cup. Still, when you have a chronic disease like asthma, it’s okay to play it safe if that’s what you choose to do.
What are your thoughts? Share with us in the comments below!
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