THIS IS MY BODY – EAT ME OR ELSE | Through The Mist Darkly

I love slamming the Catholic church. They make it so easy.

This week’s installment involves 8 year old Haley Waldman of Brielle, New Jersey. The church has invalidated her First Communion ceremony because she used a wafer that was made of rice instead of wheat. That’s a no-no as far as the holy goofballs are concerned.

Is young Haley a rebel? Hardly. She suffers from a disorder called celiac sprue disease that prevents her from consuming anything that includes gluten. No big deal, one little communion wafer can’t hurt anyone, right? Check out these consequences:

>When consumed by celiac sufferers, gluten damages the lining of the small intestine, blocking nutrient absorption and leading to vitamin deficiencies, bone-thinning and sometimes gastrointestinal cancer.

Granted, the church allows local dioceses to decide whether substitutes are acceptable but shouldn’t the gasbags from Rome step in and bring a little common sense and compassion to this issue? Forget it, this is the same religion that brought you the Spanish Inquistions.

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b serge

It’s not a big deal about not taking the host at communion.
My husband, daughter and all the in-laws have Celiac.
You take the wine and skip the host.Why should everything change because of a particular medical condition?
Your big news story’s just another little personal story blown up for your personal amusement. My family is just happy that being gluten free lets us lead a normal life. My Sister-in-law didn’t find out in time and died last year.
Your smart ass remarks have no place in this article.
EyeNo

My so called “smart ass” comments were not meant to make light of her unfortunate condition. Rather it was a comment on a religion that I spent many years of my life involved with that lost me when I realized how inflexible and out of touch the old men were. If I offended you, I apologize.
Michael Simpson

His smart ass remarks have every place in this article. No big deal? The Church is refusing to validate Haley’s participation in a Sacrament. What is her mother supposed to tell her? “You can’t eat gluten, so you have to go to Hell?”

Stories like this are why people hate the Catholic Church. Priests, bishops, cardinals, and the pope are willing to put their own man-made rules in front of the common sense proposition that God will accept the love, devotion, and service of anyone who places her love and faith in Him. There is no secret handshake in Heaven. There is no password at the pearly gates. I am incensed that these men would put their theology in front of a girl’s love for Christ.

I would not have used the word “goofball”. I would have said “delusional, pompous, self-important imbecilic scum.” Other than that, the post was fine.
Niff Remerdre

I have to agree. After much agonizing, I finally left the Catholic Church over the wine issue. I faced the truth about my alcoholism five years ago and called my priest about not taking wine at communion. His exact words: “Well, it’s best that you take the wine. Are you sure you’re an alcoholic?”

What’s amazing to me is that it took me almost a year after that to finally leave. Because I am an alcoholic, I believe with all my heart that God does not want me to drink communion wine. And since this New Jersey girl is allergic to wheat and could die from it, I’m pretty sure God doesn’t mind her taking rice wafers instead. I mean, God hasn’t sent me a memo on the matter, but He did bless me with some common sense.
EyeNo

I’ve been blogging for about a year and half and this post has generated the largest number of comments.

People want to believe and the church gives them a rock to hold on to. It comforts them in the face of rapid change and uncertainty. Stability is a good thing within reason.

A tree that will not bend, breaks. The Catholic Church bemoans the loss of membership and the problems they have atracting men to the priesthood. Perhaps they need to mimic the tree. Guitars in church and “hipping” up the bible readings don’t cut it when they refuse to make reasonable accomodations for those who need them.
Cansada

And a tree that bends to every passing breeze will not grow tall and stay strong. The Catholic Church has endured not because they sway to every whim that comes along, but because their ‘house’ was “built on the rock”.
EyeNo

And the Titanic was unsinkable until it ran into frozen water.

Because something was “right” 2000 years ago, it must be OK today? That to me is the problem.
Ann Heneghan

How many of the people who are so indignant think that a Catholic priest has the power to change a ricecake into the Body of Christ? If you don’t believe that, why should you blame the Catholic Church for not believing it either. The problem seems to be rather that the Church believes her priests have the power to change WHEAT bread into the Body of Christ.

To use an analogy – supposing you read in the next Harry Potter book that Harry needs lemon juice for some magic spell and uses apple juice instead. The spell doesn’t work. Are you all outraged at the discrimination and injustice?

It is impossible to PROVE that the consecration really takes place. YOU may think – “nothing actually happens at the Consecration, so why not let her use rice?” But remember that the Catholic Church really does believe that when WHEAT bread is used, the priest’s words change it so that it contains the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. If YOU believed that, would you want to start mucking about with other materials? We don’t baptize with milk or anoint with raw egg. Why should the Catholic Church allow invalid matter to be used? In their eyes, it would be acting a lie. And it wouldn’t help Haley at all.

As for the “you can’t eat gluten so you have to go to hell” comment, the Catholic Church does NOT say that someone who does not receive Holy Communion will go to Hell, so why should her mother say it? In fact, the Church does not say you HAVE to receive a Host made from wheat; she merely says that she does not have the power to convert other kinds of “bread” into the Body of Christ. Haley has the option of abstaining or of drinking a SMALL amount from the Chalice. Her mother does not want her to drink even a tiny amount. So the child is prevented from receiving Communion by her mother’s “rules” as much as by the Church’s “rules”. I don’t blame the mother (although I personally do not think a half teasponful of low alcohol-content drink once a week would harm a child). So why are you all blaming the Church?

By the way, nobody is obliged to receive under the form of wine at Mass. So Niff Remerdre left for the wrong reasons.