Blessed Are the Allergenic

First of all, I really wish that was true because pet dander sure does a number on me. I'll never own a cat.

Secondly, my thoughts.

The Catholic Church has a good bit to say about who's in Heaven and Hell according to history. By that I mean Jesus, Mary, and lots of Saints are in Heaven. And the proverbial "Rich Man" is in Hell. But She (the Church) doesn't really like to say "People who do this or don't do that are going to Hell" which was part of why I was drawn to the religion.

My girlfriend once said that an Evangelical Protestant was trying to "save" her once while she was doing her laundry. He told her that he knew he was going to heaven and asked if she was sure about her eternal destiny. She told him that he sounded a little presumptuous.

So I don't think that doctrinally she is damned to Hell, but there might be a little loophole in there somewhere that I don't know about. But I don't think the Church would say that she has committed a sin at all since she is not at fault. Nor is acceptance of the sacrament required for salvation

Also I read an article (AP I believe) that said the Church would offer the wine (which is always consecrated along with the bread, but not always offered in every Mass) for the girl. And I do know that the Church does not place an official preference for solid or liquid Eucharist and one doesn't recieve more or less Jesus by taking one or both.

One more thing, I have actually heard of a parish making such an accomodation in the past so I was actually surprised by this story. But this was secondhand information and probably not the exact same situation or allergy.

All that said, I think the Church did a good thing by refusing to validate the communion (and believe me I'm not the type to refrain from crticizing the Church). I'll elaborate later.