Drink from this? Hell no!
This is an NCR letter to the editor:
The issue in drinking from a shared Communion cup is cultural, not medical. We live in a North American culture which has long abhorred drinking or eating from shared utensils, be they cups, glasses, plates, spoons, whatever. When I was a boy in Missouri, there were tin cups hanging by a string from all the public water faucets and everybody used them. Today that is not done; it is not even legal.
If parents today found out that kids in the grade school were regularly drinking from the same cups or glasses, there would be a holy uproar and it would stop in a twinkling. Bottom line: it is intensely against the grain of our culture to drink from a shared cup and has been for a long time. (And, I might add, not without reason.)
We Catholics cannot change that. We should not even want to change that! I do not think that it is our role as Catholics to correct the public health conceptions of our culture, or any culture (unless they are dangerously harmful). Historically, we follow the way, formed by Jesus, who himself respected a high-profile public health perception of a specific (first century Jewish) culture: no pork for him.
The church is always an incarnate community: it lives in this place and in this time. I don't think we should be setting up a situation in which being seen as a good or real Catholic requires one to violate one of the major taboos of our own culture. The results are predictable: I have watched many parents over the years discourage their children from sharing the wine, because they are so uncomfortable with the particular way in which we Catholics insist it must be done. In fact, because of that discomfort, many folks in our parish no longer share in the wine. It need not be that way.
Instead, let us follow the lead of other Christian churches who have found multiple respectful and effective ways of sharing the wine without violating the taboo against drinking out of the same cup. Let us follow their example. A healthily incarnate and ecumenical Christian community can do no less.
JOSEPH FOY
Hantsport, Nova Scotia, Canada
Hantsport, Nova Scotia, Canada
27 comments:
Cue Kavanaugh...3...2...1...
Gene,
Great minds think alike!!! The student of science will be here shortly to educate us!!!
Education is wasted on those with no desire to learn.
"Sharing the wine"? Does the letter writer not believe in transubstantiation?
Yeah, Fr. MJK still chimes in with posters here who believe that the alcohol content of wine (11.6%) is strong enough to kill microorganisms. And/or he believes that wiping the chalice (with a common cloth no less) will somehow miraculously remove all the contaminants.
What he actually believes, who really knows. He just loves to spar and argue with our blog host. It’s gone on for over 20 years, starting with the Letters to the Editor section of the “Southern Cross” diocesan newspaper. As far as I can tell from externals, they remain friends despite their differences, sharing auto travel arrangements, seating at events, meals, etc. Sibling rivalry perhaps? Again, who really knows...only they do. God bless ‘em both.
The clinical studies that show that sharing the chalice does not pose a significant threat to anyone's health are available online for anyone who cares to read them. It's not a matter of what anyone believes.
Yours truly does believe that being against sharing the Precious Blood via the "Common Cup" is insufficient basis for Chicken Little-esque cries of "It's Flu Season - We're All Gonna Die!"
I have to wonder if the clinical study was comprehensive enough to include the battery of diseases treated by Port-au-Prince (the city, not the wine).
No, TJM, Fr. MJK IS no mere “student of science”. No, no, he is a scientific authority! Just ask him...
Actually he is our resident authority on many topics. Just ask him...
(-:
The communicant is handed the chalice, usually by a lay person, communicates himself and then hands the vessel back. If he really wanted to emulate the priest he should quaff the lot. You would then be treated to the spectacle of Hebe being made redundant on the spot, as there is no way she could replenish her cup, since once the wine is consecrated it may not be transferred from one vessel to another.
John Nolan,
Great idea! Might be worth taking a chance to see the expression on her face!
Anon 4:33. The reason I cite sources in matters scientific is that I am not the authority.
I never made that claim, so if anyone, per your suggestion, asks if I am the scientific authority, I will readily say no.
Oh, John, that sounds like a dare. My next weekend trip NO-man’s Land I might have to try that.
I'm a microbiologist. We all have normal mouth flora which should not cause any issues even IF shared.
Of course, it is uncharitable to feel I'll, or know that you have an illness and to receive the cup, and it is not wise to receive if the people in front of you are coughing and sneezing.
Germs are everywhere and they are mostly harmless if not helpful. Remember there is a whole industry now pushing "probiotics."
If you worry, don't receive. Very simple.
A microbiologist named Dan,
Was of common communion a fan.
He caught some rare flora
From south Bora Bora,
And a wafer-sized rash from Iran.
There once was a microbioligist,
Who was a shared chalice apologist.
He came down with a flu
After sharing the brew
With a stripper, a dog, and psychologist.
---------------
Thank you, thank you. Please hold your applause.
That should have been "ill."
Gene,
Comedy Gold!!! Can you now do one for Kavanaugh?
rcg and TJM
I no longer attend any church where the chalice is offered and although it's great fun to cock a snook at the Novus Ordo I wouldn't mess with the Sacrament.
I have been known to make the responses loudly and clearly in Latin at a vernacular Mass, but then I've never been bothered to learn the translations for the few occasions I do.
I do like grasping the proffered hand at the ridiculous 'sign of peace' and uttering a hearty 'Good Morning!'.
I love it.
I gotta' find something that rhymes with Kavanaugh...
Let's see...Rush Limbaugh...mother-in-law...hee haw...hmmm. Have to work on it.
There once was a priest named Kavanaugh
Who tried to impress with his thoughts;
He badgered and bullied
And left the blog sullied;
Thus few believed what he taught.
This blog just keeps getting better and better.
John Nolan,
You have a wickedly funny sense of humor.
Cheers!
ps: I was so upset at the initial translation of the Domine Non Sum Dignus, I would NEVER say it in English.
Gene,
Go with "rush limbaugh!"
Anonymous (how appropriate) came up with a good one!
Dan,
I agree!!!
Thanks, John. I am brought to my senses and out of deep love and respect will follow my usual practice of one species only.
Sacerdos cui nomen est Kavanaugh
Invenit se olim in taberna.
Vinum requisivit
Sed nil acquisivit
Dicens 'turbat me lingua Latina!'
John Nolan,
Bene est!
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