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Can I catch germs by drinking The blood of Christ?
Boy, am I glad you asked! Let me tell you in no uncertain terms to listen to your doctor, not your mother (on this matter, anyway). First of all, human blood can in fact carry disease, maybe even more easily than wine can, so merely saying "it's blood not wine" doesn't get you anywhere. Nor do we believe that the Precious Blood of Christ is some magical blood that repels germs or heals injuries like the water poured from the Holy Grail chalice onto Sean Connery's bullet wound in the climactic scene of Indiana jones and the Last Crusade. That's fiction, not our religious belief.
The change in the elements of bread and wine that occurs during the Eucharistic Prayer is not a transformation but a “transubstantiation”. One might think we can use those words interchangeably. Not true. The distinction is crucial-particularly in your case when it could make a life-or-death difference!
A trans-formation is a change in the form (the “outside") of something. Tran-substanti-ation means a change in the substance or essence (the "inside") of a thing. The teaching of the Catholic Church is that after being consecrated by the priest during Mass, the substance of what was simply bread and wine is now the True Presence of Christ's Body and Blood, under the appearance of bread and wine. And the word appearance here means more than just what they look like; it refers to any way in which we can humanly perceive or measure the material aspects of the elements (see CCC 13 81 ). For instance, the
alcohol content, color, and taste of the wine remain. Therefore, its potential to carry germs also remains, and someone with a medical condition could still be seriously affected.
Yes, we believe that this is truly the Blood of Christ, but that doesn't mean we believe that what's in the
chalice at communion time should have the consistency or molecular makeup of human blood. Nope, it still has all the characteristics of cheap table wine, and it is not somehow made magically impervious to germs. The same can be said of the host. People with celiac disease, who could very possibly have a life-threatening reaction to ingesting even a small amount of wheat, know quite well that the host has the same gluten content before and after the consecration. No doubt, your mom's faith and devotion to the Eucharist are to be commended. But it's always important to understand what we believe.
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Excerpt from Mass Class by Father Dave Dwyer, Copyright © 2022 by David P. Dwyer.
Published by Paulist Press, Inc., New York/Mahwah, NJ. Reprinted by permission of Paulist Press, Inc.
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