For the early Christians, celebrating Eucharist together was an act of intimacy akin to sexual union. That was one of the reasons they surrounded the Eucharist with the kind reverence and discretion that judicious lovers employ. This was a custom within which they didn't allow anyone who wasn't fully initiated to be present at the Eucharist, much like healthy lovers who fear exhibitionism. Inside the body of Christ, we are present to each other and carry each other across the miles. Everything we do, good or bad, affects all the others.
Nothing is private inside a body, everything affects everything.
Moreover our union with each other links us, even beyond death. To believe this is to be both consoled and challenged. Consoled, in knowing that we carry each other in love and union, across all distance, even through death. But challenged too in knowing that everything we do, be it ever so private, is either a bad virus or an healthy enzyme affecting the overall health of the body of Christ and the family of humanity. All Rights Reserved.