Well, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Apropos of my previous post about receiving the Eucharist (which, by the way, The Irish Catholic asked if they could publish!), I had a communicant who chose to receive on the tongue, but didn't give me much to work with! So, I did my best to try to get it in there, and the next thing I knew, it was flying through the air!
Well, as you can imagine, what followed was flying vestments in a panic! Trying to retrieve the host from the floor--and at the same time not lose the rest--I found myself feeling not only panicked but also embarrassed and angry. Not exactly what I want to be feeling when I'm distributing Holy Communion!
Nevertheless, I recovered, made it on the second try with a new host, and then finished with the rest of the line. Then there was the somewhat unpleasant but unavoidable question of what to do with the lipstick-stained host that I had retrieved from the floor. There was only one thing to do--consume it. Which I did.
The moral of the story, I guess: These things happen, and you do what you have to do. Still, I felt a little bad about getting angry. Nobody said anything, so I hope I was able to keep something of a poker face.
