Taking Holy Communion is a life-and-death matter - at least if we believe the Bible. St. Paul, writing to the Church at Corinth blames the death of some parishioners on the fact that they communed “without discerning the body.” And this is certainly a part of why the Church has always practiced closed communion - until quite recently, that is.

The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Chicago is concerned about people becoming weak, or ill, or even dying as a result of coming to Mass. And so they are carefully checking people at the door. Not to make sure that they “discern the body” in the sacrament, mind you, but rather to see if they have received a Covid-19 shot. Nobody will check to see that you are a Christian, a Roman Catholic, or a believer in the Real Presence when you present yourself to receive the body and blood of Christ. The priest will not ask you. You may well be a Satanist looking for a consecrated host to desecrate, and nobody will vet you. And neither will the lay man or woman who is distributing the blood of Christ - though the chalice is once again being withheld by the papal church because of Covid.

Again, someone could become weak or ill, or even die. Hence the caution.

Of course, not just Roman Catholics, but all Christians who confess the Real Presence, seem to be more concerned about people getting sick or dying from Covid than from unbelief. It is as though we don’t believe what is in the Scriptures that receiving the Lord’s Supper without belief can be fatal. Theology used to be the Queen of Sciences, but now Scientism has become the Queen of Theology. It seems that we believe more in the real presence of viruses than the real presence of Jesus, and that now the fear of the microbe is the beginning of wisdom.

In the ancient church, if you traveled to another diocese to receive the Holy Sacrament, you were vetted. You were expected to produce a letter from your priest. Today, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, something similar is happening - only the priest who must sign your letter wears a lab coat instead of an alb.

In fact, for many Roman Catholics and other Christians alike, there is a new pope. His name is Anthony.