germs on the Communion cup

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Do you honestly think that Christ would allow the consumption of his Precious Blood to spread disease?

It’s either the Blood of Christ, or it isn’t.

You either believe or you don’t.
 
And you either understand the distinction between the ‘substance’, which would not harm us, and the ‘accidents’, which could carry germs. - or you don’t.
 
MusicMan said:
Do you honestly think that Christ would allow the consumption of his Precious Blood to spread disease?
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Do you honestly think that bacteria are capable of some kind of metaphysical calculus, which exposed to a cup of common wine will remain true to their infectious nature, but when exposed to the Blood of Christ will become benign?
MusicMan said:
It’s either the Blood of Christ, or it isn’t.

You either believe or you don’t.
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Amen to that. :twocents: IMHO, it takes *more *faith to assert that the Blood of Christ may spread contagion. After all, which to you think renders a cup of common wine susceptible to contagion? Its substance? Or its accidents?

Wouldn’t this yield a scientific (and faith-less) proof of the Real Presence? Sprinkle some mold spores over the cup – If it becomes corrupt over time, it is wine; If it remains “unchanged” it is the Blood of Christ?

tee
 
Faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain.

I believe that the substance in the cup is the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. While it may be in the accidents of wine, I believe that Christ never allow those accidents to spread germs. My faith in strong that were germs to come into contact with the accidents/substance of the Most Precious Blood, that they simply would cease to be a danger. The how, the why, or what happens to them is irrelevant. The Most Precious Blood will not allow me to be infected by germs.
 
So you could test for the Real Presence *a la *my little experiment above?

I think that makes me sad 😦

tee
 
Why would I need to engage in such an experiment. I have complete faith that the Lord will not allow disease to come to me from consuming his Precious Blood. That is enough for me.
 
MusicMan said:
Why would I need to engage in such an experiment. I have complete faith that the Lord will not allow disease to come to me from consuming his Precious Blood. That is enough for me.
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i have thought about this often. i cannot get the flu shot, so if i know a flu epidemic is going around among the church members, i stay home. i am not young anymore and getting the flu is harder on me now than when i was younger. i agree that you can catch the communicable diseases from the shaking the hands in the sign of the peace or opening a door or touching a pew.

i guess i pray that it will never happen. i live in a town now with two interstates that run by it and in the summer there are very many international tourists as we are close to the grand canyon.
what can you do? i love the holy eucharist and would hate to not participate because i am afraid of germs.

at least we don’t live in the times of the plague.
 
Merkel said:
No way.

I have gotten colds from receiving sops via a spoon in the Byzantine Rite at least 3 times.

The spoon hits people’s lips, tongues and teeth VERY often. The uninitiated often suck on it by accident.

No, I think not.
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Yea. I thought about it after I said it and realized that it still could be passed on because of people touching the “spoon”. BTW: What is the spoon actually called?
 
Hey, Rob–

If your only issue with your wife serving as EMHC is her consuming what remains of the Precious Blood after everyone else has drunk from the cup, perhaps she could give it to someone else to finish for her. Some of our EMHCs will routinely return the remaining Precious Blood to our deacon, if there is more than they can handle. Sometimes I wonder how he manages to drive home after Mass. . .
 
I don’t remember Our Lord saying to his apostles at the last supper "Take this all of you and drink from it only if you’re perfectly healthy, know you don’t have a cold, haven’t come in contact with anybody with the flu, you don’t have a contagious bacteria, etc.etc. etc. "😉 😉 😉
 
The bible does not say but what are the chances that Jesus did not wash His hands when offering the cup the first time to the disciples?

All you people who are fixated on hygeine let me ask you this:

If you had been one of the disciples and KNEW that Jesus did not wash his hands before offering the cup at the FIRST EUCHARIST–would you have drank from the cup or refused it?

If you sat directly next to Jesus and He offered it–would you have refused it?
 
MusicMan said:
Do you honestly think that Christ would allow the consumption of his Precious Blood to spread disease?

It’s either the Blood of Christ, or it isn’t.

You either believe or you don’t.
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The Church does not teach that it is impossible to spread disease by consumption of the Precious Blood. I have no reason to believe that it is an impossibility. Why should it be?

You may as well argue that Christ wouldn’t allow any act of kindness by a Christian with virtuous motive to spread disease. After all, we are the Body of Christ, right?

While I don’t think that sharing a common cup is overly dangerous most of the time, someone who is very vulnerable disease is not betraying any lack of faith by refraining from receiving Holy Communion under both species.
 
My wife has the attitude that receiving the Precious Blood is worth the risk of infection. While I admire her faith, I’m more practical.

I will suggest to her that she allow someone else to consume the remainders after everyone has received.

However, after 29 years of marriage, spouses have a way of not listening to each other very much.

If I were a priest, I’d say, “Without actually shaking hands, let us offer one another a sign of peace.” That way, those who don’t wish to touch would not feel embarrassed or put-upon.
  • Rob in Oregon
 
snowbird said:
I don’t remember Our Lord saying to his apostles at the last supper "Take this all of you and drink from it only if you’re perfectly healthy, know you don’t have a cold, haven’t come in contact with anybody with the flu, you don’t have a contagious bacteria, etc.etc. etc. "😉 😉 😉
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OK, but the Lord also gave Peter and the Apostles authority and gave us successors to them. The Church teaches that it is not necessary to receive under both species. The Church does not teach that it is impossible to transmit disease via a communion cup holding the Precious Blood.

I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from receiving both, not at all. I just don’t think it is right to imply that those who decide that one species is sufficient should have to endure implications that their faith is somehow deficient.

I’m an EMHC. If I’m not sick but know there is a nasty bug going through my kids’ school, I don’t receive from the cup unless there is some left to consume at the end. We have older people, some very frail, who sit in the very front and who receive first. I would not like to put them at risk, if I can help it.

(If I know I’m actually sick myself, I trade with someone else for a different weekend. Trust in God, but row away from the rocks…)
 
Jerry-Jet said:
The bible does not say but what are the chances that Jesus did not wash His hands when offering the cup the first time to the disciples?

All you people who are fixated on hygeine let me ask you this:

If you had been one of the disciples and KNEW that Jesus did not wash his hands before offering the cup at the FIRST EUCHARIST–would you have drank from the cup or refused it?

If you sat directly next to Jesus and He offered it–would you have refused it?
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Jerry,
Jewish custom required Jesus to wash his hands prior to the Pascal meal.
 
panoikei said:
Jerry,
Jewish custom required Jesus to wash his hands prior to the Pascal meal.
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And, we do have the ritual purification that the celebrant undergoes before he consecrates the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
 
benedictgal said:
And, we do have the ritual purification that the celebrant undergoes before he consecrates the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.
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That is my understanding from whence it came. Fancy wording don’t you think.😉
 
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