Re: Communion in the Catholic Church

[Guest guest]

I'm a wet rag party pooper of the most extreme... but your priest is

doing wrong by you. :-( See:

http://www.ewtn.org/vexperts/showmessage.asp?Pgnu=2 & Pg=Forum8 & recnu=27 & number=41\

8528

and note that the person quoted is now B16, and no longer " just "

Cardinal Ratzinger.

I only care passionately about this because going gluten-free has

caused me to learn a whole lot more about Holy Communion in the

Catholic Church than I ever learned in 12 years of religious education

and 4 years of Jesuit college education.

Since I cannot take The Precious Blood for other health reasons, I can

only use Spiritual Communion for the time being. I will soon be

finding out if I can use the very-low gluten altar breads from The

Benedictine Sisters. If I can, great! My pastor will buy those for me.

If I can't, then it's all TBD.

You are only obligated to receive Communion once/year. You are invited

to receive Communion daily. Somewhere in between those two extremes

each celiac/gluten-free person must find her/his own solution.

I received Communion on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. So I'm

good until next December, 2007. In the meantime, I pray for Spiritual

Communion and I go to Eucharistic Adoration when I can. Those two

things give me great comfort while being unable to consume Communion

in the traditional way grieves me.

Esther in RI

>

> I am Catholic and I take communion. I give the priest Ener-G

gluten free communion wafers before mass.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I think that it is terrific that some priests are willing to be

flexible and act compassionately and reasonably by giving alternative

substances for communion. Congratulations to the poster with the

upcoming wedding and best wishes to all.

[Guest guest]

I think that it is terrific that some priests are willing to be

flexible and act compassionately and reasonably by giving alternative

substances for communion. Congratulations to the poster with the

upcoming wedding and best wishes to all.

[Guest guest]

Thanks!!!!

And I totally agree...it shows no less love to God if you recieve a GF wafer. By this priest willing to be flexible, I am able to have a full mass wedding and take part in something very special and meaningful. I have never been a very involved Catholic but as I start my life with my soon to be husband it is important to us to have a religion that we can call our own (not just our parents) I am so happy that the priest is willing to make an effort to be supportive and understanding. Re: Communion in the Catholic Church

I think that it is terrific that some priests are willing to be flexible and act compassionately and reasonably by giving alternative substances for communion. Congratulations to the poster with the upcoming wedding and best wishes to all.

[Guest guest]

>

> By this priest willing to be flexible, I am able to have a full

> mass wedding and take part in something very special and meaningful.

Just a niggly point of accuracy and precision: you can have a full

Mass wedding without a GF wafer. You could receive The Precious Blood,

as could any other celiacs.

If you have an allergy to wine AND celiac, then you are in the same

boat I am in.

But barring an allergy to wine, you can receive The Precious Blood and

it's completely Communion just as The Host is completely Communion.

Beating the dead horse just because I'm personally angry at it: a GF

wafer is NOT Catholic Communion. Too bad. So sad. It's just not.

Sigh... Eucharistic Adoration any one? Betania II has daily Adoration

in Milford, MA... There's Perpetual Adoration in Natick, MA....

Grieved by being unable to take Communion at this time..... Esther

in RI

[Guest guest]

That's what I don't get. I have read (just a little, not an expert at all) that

unless there is

wheat in there, it is not communion. Without getting too philosophical, isn't

the whole

idea that you are, through your faith, believing that the spirit of Christ is in

the wafer and

being delivered to your body? That was how it was explained to me as a child.

I know

there is scripture and I'm sure reasons to back up their position - but I just

can't imagine

that a rice wafer could not be substituted. It would be interesting to study

this more.

>

> Beating the dead horse just because I'm personally angry at it: a GF

> wafer is NOT Catholic Communion. Too bad. So sad. It's just not.

>

[Guest guest]

I've learned quite a bit about it and can point you in directions

if you'd like to learn more. We can take the discussion off-list

unless other folks are interested, too. It's kind of esoteric and

pretty much limited to Catholic doctrine. I have my own issues with

it. If you'd like to discuss further, please email me. I read this

group via the web so I cannot see your email address at all. But if

you're on the mailing list, then you can see my email address.

Esther in RI

>

> >

> > Beating the dead horse just because I'm personally angry at it: a GF

> > wafer is NOT Catholic Communion. Too bad. So sad. It's just not.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

I've just been diagnosed, and we've been trying out different parishes for the last few months beside. Guess I will have to talk to the priest at whichever we decide on. I don't know if it is important to do as I've read on other sites and make sure to have a separate wine cup for me (or to use it first). I can't imagine that there would be many milligrams of gluten in the wine cup left there by previous communicants. From what I have heard and noticed, co-mingling by the priest is no longer practiced. The biggest issue for me is getting to mass early enough so that we can sit closer to the alter (good for the kids) so that the wine cup won't be empty by the time I get to it. As far as the substance of the communion...I really don't quite understand it yet either. It seems like Christ could be present in a wafer of any substance. I do understand that Jesus took BREAD and said "this is my

body". But I wonder if he would have done the same with rice, had he lived in the orient instead of the middle east. Be that as it may, it was bread, and he is the bread of life (which by his analogy, bread was vitally important in his time), so this is one of those issues that we just have to trust the church on (often understanding comes after obedience). Maybe we should all become active as Catholic celiacs in getting the diocese (priests and bishop) to understand what an important issue communion is for all Catholics, and that communion under both species should be offered at every mass so that celiacs are not turned away. in Fort Worth esther_p210 wrote: I've learned quite a bit about it and can point you in directionsif you'd like to learn more. We can take the discussion off-listunless other folks are interested, too. It's kind of esoteric andpretty much limited to Catholic doctrine. I have my own issues withit. If you'd like to discuss further, please email me. I read thisgroup via the web so I cannot see your email address at all. But ifyou're on the mailing list, then you can see my email address.Esther in RI> > > > > Beating the dead horse just because I'm personally angry at it: a GF> > wafer is NOT Catholic Communion. Too bad. So sad. It's just not.> >>

Yahoo! DSL Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less

[Guest guest]

I've just been diagnosed, and we've been trying out different parishes for the last few months beside. Guess I will have to talk to the priest at whichever we decide on. I don't know if it is important to do as I've read on other sites and make sure to have a separate wine cup for me (or to use it first). I can't imagine that there would be many milligrams of gluten in the wine cup left there by previous communicants. From what I have heard and noticed, co-mingling by the priest is no longer practiced. The biggest issue for me is getting to mass early enough so that we can sit closer to the alter (good for the kids) so that the wine cup won't be empty by the time I get to it. As far as the substance of the communion...I really don't quite understand it yet either. It seems like Christ could be present in a wafer of any substance. I do understand that Jesus took BREAD and said "this is my

body". But I wonder if he would have done the same with rice, had he lived in the orient instead of the middle east. Be that as it may, it was bread, and he is the bread of life (which by his analogy, bread was vitally important in his time), so this is one of those issues that we just have to trust the church on (often understanding comes after obedience). Maybe we should all become active as Catholic celiacs in getting the diocese (priests and bishop) to understand what an important issue communion is for all Catholics, and that communion under both species should be offered at every mass so that celiacs are not turned away. in Fort Worth esther_p210 wrote: I've learned quite a bit about it and can point you in directionsif you'd like to learn more. We can take the discussion off-listunless other folks are interested, too. It's kind of esoteric andpretty much limited to Catholic doctrine. I have my own issues withit. If you'd like to discuss further, please email me. I read thisgroup via the web so I cannot see your email address at all. But ifyou're on the mailing list, then you can see my email address.Esther in RI> > > > > Beating the dead horse just because I'm personally angry at it: a GF> > wafer is NOT Catholic Communion. Too bad. So sad. It's just not.> >>

Yahoo! DSL Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less

[Guest guest]

>

> As far as the substance of the communion...I really don't quite

understand it yet either. It seems like Christ could be present in a

wafer of any substance. I do understand that Jesus took BREAD and

said " this is my body " . But I wonder if he would have done the same

with rice, had he lived in the orient instead of the middle east. Be

that as it may, it was bread, and he is the bread of life (which by

his analogy, bread was vitally important in his time), so this is one

of those issues that we just have to trust the church on (often

understanding comes after obedience).

>

> Maybe we should all become active as Catholic celiacs in getting

the diocese (priests and bishop) to understand what an important issue

communion is for all Catholics, and that communion under both species

should be offered at every mass so that celiacs are not turned away.

>

>

, it is my understanding that there are five allowed grains

for use at Passover: wheat, rye, barley, spelt, and oat. Of those,

four have gluten. Oat, if grown and harvested and handled carefully,

likely does not have gluten that bothers us celiacs.

Remember that Jesus, as man, was an Orthodox Jew. So he would have

used only one of the five allowed grains at the Passover that was The

Last Supper, when the Eucharist was initiated.

Our Lord Jesus Christ *could* have used oat at The Last Supper. But it

seems to be assumed that He used wheat.

When my life settles just a little bit more, I'm going to be writing

to the Nuncio and presenting my case that oat wafers should be allowed

for valid Eucharistic matter.

Not rice. Rice makes no sense to me. Not quinoa. Quinoa makes no sense

to me. Not buckwheat. Buckwheat makes no sense to me. Nor potato, soy,

or any of the other substitutes we can use for regular baking. We're

not talking about regular baking here. We're talking about Eucharist.

And the Eucharist was initiated at a Passover meal. So, my case is

that one of the five allowed Passover grains IS safe for us celiacs

and should be allowed to be proper matter for Eucharistic celebrations.

I'll write that letter when my life settles down just a wee bit.

And when I get my answer, I'll be sharing it with the world.

Meanwhile, do you know about http://www.catholicceliacs.org/ ?

And have you given the very-low gluten hosts a try? (I'm still waiting

for my samples to come in the mail.)

And yes, understanding comes after obedience. And from raising small

children, I can see just how dang hard obedience can be! Laugh!

(I think I have a couple Curious the monkeys in my house.

" wanted to be good, but it's easy for a little monkey to

forget... " )