Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between allergies and a cold. Or sometimes it feels like a cold is “coming on” but it’s not really there yet. Or the cold is mostly over, and you feel fine, but you still are coughing a little bit. There are times when it is not easy to decide if you’re sick enough because you’re not blowing your nose constantly, and not coughing and sneezing a lot (these things would be enough to stay home). In those in-between times, it is only courteous to what you can to prevent others from catching whatever germs you are still shedding. Whether or not it is good for the people around you to catch your germs is not really your judgment to make, and it is respectful to err on the side of caution. In those cases, you can use a little hand sanitizer and then receive communion in the hand.
I admit to being a little germ phobic, and I hate shaking people’s hands at the kiss of peace, and then having to receive without washing my hands, especially when those people were sniffling and coughing throughout Mass. The swine flu season, and a few too many stomach bugs really did a number on my stress about catching unnecessary illnesses. So sometime before the kiss of peace, I discreetly open a little handi-wipe (individually wrapped package), and clean my own hands. Since I have allergies, it is common for me to blow my nose even when I’m perfectly healthy, but that doesn’t mean people want to touch the hands that held the dirty tissues. Then I keep the wipe in my left hand until after the kiss of peace, and I use it again, just before receiving. This might seem a little too much for some people, but worrying about giving or getting yucky germs unnecessarily is a distraction that I don’t need during Mass, and this reduces it.
