Cold & Flu Redux

A reader writes:

I recently found your site and have thoroghly enjoyed

reading it.  Your websites awsome!   I wanted to comment on

your article Cold and Flu People at Mass.  Thank you for pointing out

that sick people should be content with recieving Him under the

appearance of bread -rather then share their germs on the chalice.

Also, holding hands during the Our Father or shaking hands during the

kiss of peace should not be done if someone has a catching sickness.  Children, and as you pointed out adults, need to cover their

mouths when the cough and not coughing on someone else is always a good

thing.

 
One comment in your article concerned me however.  I

was surprised to read that having a contagious disease is a valid

excuse to miss Mass.  While in the case of small pox or something of

that sort I would agree, are you sure that a cold validly excuses a

person from their sunday obligation?  Worshiping at Mass is the  most

important thing any of us will ever do.  We do have an obligation not

to spread disease, but this can be done by following a few common sense

steps (which you mention in your article).  Also, if one is severely

ill and absolutly cannot make it to Mass they should have someone bring

them communion.

 
I only mention this because people can be inclined to

take the ‘easy way out’.  A mere case of the sniffles (or the

perception that they are going to get sick) will offer enough excuse to

stay in bed on a Sunday morning under the pretext that it is better to

miss Mass then spread their germs. 

 
Please don’t be angry with this note.  I respect that

you sacrifice your time to promote the Catholic Church in your website

and will keep your ministry in my prayers.  Like I said above, I’ve

thoroughly enjoyed what I have read on your site.

Several thoughts:

  1. Don’t worry. I’m not a bit angry. I operate on the principle that not everybody has to agree with me.
  2. Also, thank you for the kind words about my blog! I hope you’ll keep coming back and be a regular part of the group!
  3. If anybody at Mass actually had small pox then he not only should be not be at Mass, he should be reported to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. Small pox is considered to be a disease that is extinct in the wild, with only a few cold storage stocks of it kept on hand by governments. An actual case of small pox in the population would be a likely sign of a terrorist attack. That being said, I know you were just using small pox as a more serious disease and that I’m being overly literal. 🙂
  4. I’m quite sure that people who have contagious diseases should stay home and not go to Mass.
  5. First, it is not practically possible for a great mass of people to be together and have cold and flu sufferes without these diseases jumping from person to person. The stopgap measures I mentioned for preventing its spread are not infallible and will not be used by many people. People will forget and make slips. They will cough in their hands and then–even omitting shaking hands at the sign of peace–they will forget and put their hand on the seat or on the back of the pew in front of them and the cold virus will remain there and able to infect others for up to two weeks.
  6. Colds and flu make people miserable and force them to take time off from work or to go to work and infect other people. If a person is elderly or in frail health (like many at Mass), a cold or flu can kill them. That’s why they try to get all the elderly to have flu shots every year. Influenza kills 20,000 people in the U.S. alone every year on average.
  7. It is, in my opinion, an act objectively contrary to the virtue of charity to show up at Mass (or work) with a contagious case of cold or flu or any other similar illness (e.g., strep throat) unless there is a specific, counterbalancing factor of proportionate weight (like, "I’m supposed to get married at this Mass" or "I’ll get fired if I don’t clock in today").
  8. Because it is objectively contrary to the virtue of charity if done without a proportionate reason, in my opinion showing up at Mass with a contagious disease of this nature is sinful, with the gravity of the sin being proportionate to the likelihood of communicating it to others and the likely health effects in the people who would catch it. (Thus it would be worse to show up with a contagious disease at a Mass held in an old folks home than in a college young adult center.)
  9. We most certainly are not bound to show up at Mass with contagious diseases. While I people should not lightly excuse themselves from Mass, having a contagious disease is an instance in which they should. This applies even to the first phases of a the disease, when they may be most contagious.

Having said all that, I want to assure you that the attitude motivating your question is quite commendable, especially in a day when so many people fail to show up at Mass.

Americans have a tendency to take rules of this much more strictly than Rome intends, and they don’t realize how many exceptions Rome sees in the law. Thus they end up dragging themselves to Mass and infecting those around them, which is not Rome’s intention. Indeed, if you read older moralists, they name all kind of reasons as valid excuses for missing Mass that seem quite light to Americans–e.g., Alphonsus Ligouri considered it a valid excuse not to go if you would have to ride a donkey for more than fifteen minutes.

While worship is the most important thing we do in life, one can worship at home when one is sick. Indeed, if done for a motive of charity, staying home and not infecting others is itself an act of worship toward God. Thus, for God’s sake (in the literal sense), one should stay home.

Hope this helps, and God bless!

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

9 thoughts on “Cold & Flu Redux”

  1. Jimmy,

    I was a bit skeptical of your statement that “the cold virus will remain there [on a seat or pew] and able to infect others for up to two weeks”, so I Googled up http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/cold.htm. It states there that “Rhinoviruses can live up to 3 hours on your skin. They also can survive up to 3 hours on objects such as telephones and stair railings.” So it doesn’t appear to be as bad as you indicate. Still, your warnings have caused me to re-consider my actions, as I tend to have a lot of colds (I’ve got a 2-year old at home who goes to daycare). I wonder if it wouldn’t be sufficiently prudent to stay away from Mass for the first 3 – 5 days after becoming infected (when we’re most contagious) and then be especially careful for the remainder of the episode?

    BTW, another good source for basic cold info is http://www.commoncold.org.

    Thanks for the info.

  2. I certainly do not disagree with the counsel that those who are sick should stay home and avoid public places. But I would like to suggest that the problem of contagion has little to do with the common cup. The problem is being in a closed place with those who are sick. The common cup has been extensively researched and its relative safety established. I commend to your readers my article Coodies in the Cup?

  3. I agree with your reasoning about staying away from Mass when contagious. Someone else mentioned that we “should” have someone bring us Holy Communion at home if we are too sick to attend Mass. I have had a friend offer to bring me Holy Communion (she is an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion) when I was sick, but I declined. As a convert (2 years), I haven’t gotten past my personal issues of receiving Holy Communion from someone besides a priest or deacon. I realize that it is legitimate to receive from an EMHC, but I worry too much about indignities against the Precious Body and Blood (especially the idea of Him riding in a car to get to my house seems really bothersome). I’m aware that these are probably not legitimate worries, but I don’t know what my obligation is regarding receiving in a setting outside of Mass.

    Any insights to share?

  4. I find it somewhat bizarre that someone would think that a common cold or flu was grounds for not attending Mass on Sunday. The cold and flu are infectious more so than contagious, and are ..well .. COMMON. I must say though, that some of the ‘flu epidemics are serious and would in fact warrant staying home on Sunday whilst suffering the worst symptoms.

    When I was young I was told that we should travel up to an hour to attend Sunday Mass, which is what my grandparents used to do when roads were poorly formed. I don’t recall traveling for an hour, but regularly used to travel 20 mins. to the next town for Mass, and once on holiday back in the 70’s travelled for 40 mins. to Mass at the nearest town when camping out in the back blocks. I still think we should travel up to an hour for Mass

  5. I certainly agree with Jimmy re: absence from Mass due to a cold. My 20 month old son died from an adenovirus (which in laymens terms is just a bad cold of the upper respiratory tract). The doctor said he probably caught it at the supermarket. People don’t seem to understand the vulnerablity of the young, infirm and old. I am sure the Good Lord wouldn’t mind if infected people missed Mass due to them being slghtly ill if only to protect those that are at risk. After all, they do say that charity begins at home!

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