Sanitizer at Mass
Monday, October 15, 2018
Carmen I Santamaria
Perhaps not a trend, but something I have been seeing more and more of at Mass is people using antibacterial hand sanitizer after the rite of peace. The first time I saw it happen I was honestly very offended, as I thought the family sanitizing their hands was somehow disgusted by my four children and their germs. I dismissed the incident as isolated, but nonetheless it stuck with me.
Then it happened again, and then again. The last time was the clincher for me as these people didn’t even touch us during the peace; they did the half wave which is also entirely too common nowadays. Why are we so afraid to reach out and touch others?
The recent deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain have once again brought mental health into the news but so much more prevalent than depression is the profound loneliness people feel. Why is it that despite more social media than ever and supposedly more communication, people have a lower happiness index than ever before?
I think the sanitizing of our hands is but a symptom of the deep fear we have of getting into the “dirty” lives of those around us. The gesture of peace is meant to unite us. They say the over-usage of antibiotics and antibacterial products actually has an adverse effect on our bodies because our immune systems do not build up the strength to fight bugs on their own. I think the same can be said for us spiritually: The more we sanitize our spiritual life and refuse to go to the depths of the grimy parts of our lives, the less spiritual strength we have.
I remember feeling uncomfortable and rejected to some extent when I went to Mass and offered my hand and my sign of peace only to be met with a half-smile and a wave. No wonder we go to Mass on a regular basis and sit in the same pew but do not know the names of anyone around us. Fellowship and community-building is what draws many to the Protestant faith, and with situations like these it is not hard to see why.
We need to be open to getting messy, getting to know and touch those around us. Times are difficult and living our faith can be tough. We need peace, Christ’s peace, to be the change the world needs. The fact that we refuse to offer that simple human gesture of peace is sad.
We cannot sanitize life and we need to stop being afraid to enter into the germ-filled spaces with our brothers and sisters in Christ. As Scripture says in 1 John 4:18 “perfect love drives out fear.” May we love more perfectly so as stop fearing getting to know those around us and truly share the gift of peace with one another.
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