There is a curious ruling this week from the Vatican after Cardinal Robert Sarah informed bishops that the Eucharist during must not be gluten-free. It can however use genetically-modified organisms.
The ruling came from Cardinal Robert Sarah of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Sarah stated that the issue was a simple matter of wheat:
“The bread used in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition. It follows therefore that bread made from another substance, even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat to such an extent that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament.”
The communion wafer used in the holy rite of transubstantiation must remain primarily wheat. So to is the purity of the wine which must be “natural, from the fruit of the grape, pure and incorrupt, not mixed with other substances.” ,
Here is the letter: Communion Letter
Better than the usual chatter on these threads.
Two, four, six, eight;
Time to transubstantiate.
From the wonderful mathematician and song writer extraordinaire Tom Lehrer, from 1967; but like many a Lehrer song, is still as relevant as the day it was composed:
🙂
Well, what the Catholics do is none of my business, anymore than what the Church of Rattlesnake Dancing in
Fuchsville, West Virginia does is any of my business. Catholics have the Pope to take care of stuff like this for them, and the CRD has part-time Minister Posmo Scruggs to guide them. When he ain’t stuck out of town driving a truck.
Sooo, I am just going to keep my mouth shut, because I am not a gluten for punishment!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky – when I was growing up, no one was gluten intolerant. Where did this suddenly come from?
It comes from GMO in the wheat strain.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2013-04-11/nrn-dist-gm-pigs/4751210
“Well, what the Catholics do is none of my business, anymore than what the Church of Rattlesnake Dancing ….”
*****************
I think the church of rattle snake dancing would be more of your business than you run-of-the-mill Catholic service would be if you were seated next to one of the serpine practitioners while flying on a plane. And Didn’t Samuel L. Jackson do that movie? Just a stray thought. Yeehaw!!
I feel blessed to have been raised Catholic instead of Muslim. Even though I now attend a different church, my foundational faith has a long, and gloried tradition of intense criticism and call for reform. I rather think that similar desensitization would go a long way towards combating global Islamic terrorism. If they got used to thinking about the pros and cons of their faith, whether it may need to be reformed in certain areas, or be able to calmly debate why they think it doesn’t need to change, then there would be no more angry homicidal mobs or violence against apostates, non believers, or those of any faith who insult the Prophet.
This was on my mind recently since Linda Sarsour called for jihad, literally, on Trump. I’m sure all of her followers will take that figuratively, or as a spiritual quest without violence, right?
Hold on! The Body and Blood of Christ are genetically modified!!!
And no Communion for those with Celiac disease, sadly.
Another aspect of the Mass that bothered me for years was the use of the Communal Cup and the Purificator. If you want to partake in the Blood of Christ, you all drink from the same Cup, and the Deacon or Priest just runs a pristine white Purificator cloth around the rim, making sure to thoroughly smear any saliva all around the rim. And, no, wine does not have sufficient alcohol to kill viruses (like Herpes or the common cold), and if it did, that would only affect the contents of the cup, not the outer rim.
The Lutheran Church, which is about as close to Catholic as you can get, except maybe for Greek Orthodox, has been using individual shot glasses for years, and they offer gluten free. The Rite was not developed when we had medical knowledge of germ theory or of diseases that involve intolerance or allergy to wheat. And Jesus did not go into this long, detailed explanation during the Last Supper of how this Last Body and Blood must be wheat, and recently made, and not diluted with any other ingredients. No, I’m pretty sure he didn’t waste those last few moments on minutia.
For me, personally, genetically modified substances would be corruptive. They would by definition be contaminated with pesticides and herbicides such as glycophosphates and/or neonicotinoids, known to cause cancer, birth defects, and neurological disease.
Perhaps in another 500 years, the Catholic Church will make another revision to the Mass and include individual glasses, an organic Host, and a gluten-free version for those with Celiac or other medical reasons.
And no Communion for those with Celiac disease, sadly.
Again, it can be given in either form. The catechism you received was lousy.
What are you referring to, “either form”? We are discussing how the Holy See just informed us that the Eucharist cannot be gluten free.
If you are referring to either the Body or the Blood, then, of course, those with Celiac Disease are free to partake of the Communal Cup that everyone drinks out of. Gross. What a choice. Drink of the saliva of literally everyone who’s in line ahead of you that Sunday, or flareup of intense digestive distress. Not really much of a choice, in reality, is it?
Don’t cast aspersions on my catechism. I spent a lot of time every Wednesday at CCD growing up.
In my family, my parents raised us not to drink out of the Communal Cup, for obvious hygiene reasons. Forcing someone with a medical condition to do so as the only way to receive Christ has ethical problems.
Sam Stone, came home…to his wife and family..
After proving that he was gluten free.
When Sammy took to stealing…
He had that gluten feeling..
And a hundred dollar habit…
Without overtime.
Perhaps it’s time to join the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster instead ….
I want to know why gluten free material cannot perform transubstantiation like ordinary or GMO wheat products. What is it about gluten free which stops the process? Could it be–SATAN????
Like Justice Holmes, I feel fortunate that someone is in charge of these important matters! If looking for a substance that will not degrade over time I would suggest the use of twinkies.
If you want an answer to a recondite question of sacramental theology, you actually have to do the work and read the supporting documents and secondary sources. Since you don’t actually want an answer, you’re not going to do that.
If the Bible is silent on this specific issue, then where does the Catholic Church derive the basis for this communion order? It would seem the Catholic Church treats the Bible much like progressives treat the U.S. Constitution.
The magic of religion is that you can make it up as you go along.
The magic of religion is that you can make it up as you go along.
Thus proving my point, Doglover. You believe it’s religion in general and I can attest that is not the case within the LCMS.
The magic of religion is that you can make it up as you go along.
Only if you’re brainless.
Because Catholic theology does not treat the canon of Scripture like primitive Baptists do, and never has. Theological understanding comes from Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium. The canon was not formally closed until the late 3d century. God founded not a book but a Church.
Olly,
The Catholic Church bases their communion/ transubstantiation on Matthew 26:26, Luke 22:19, and Mark 14:22.
According to the letter cited above, they reference only Luke 22:8 Go and prepare the Passover meal for us, so we can eat it. and Luke 22:13 So they went and found it just as He had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
Wow, that’s a very broad interpretation of what the text of the Bible actually says. Anyway, that’s between the Catholics and God. Although it seems as though they have taken one thing and then just made up the rest. Well, that’s their 1st amendment interpretation. Now, back to the big government progressives. They will take something, for instance promote the general welfare, and before you know it Peter is being robbed to pay Paul, and we get the welfare state.
Olly, ..
You can pull up the verses I cited on the internet.
That part of the Last Supper is mentioned in 3 Gospels, not just Luke’s.
I’m not debating it one way or the other; just pointing to what the Catholic Church cites at the Biblical basis for transubstaniation.
tnash,
I’m familiar with the verses. I also looked up the verses cited in the letter. Apparently they believed that is all the authority (guidance) needed. Anyway, I’m not Catholic. Not my concern.
Olly,…
I only did a quick read of the letter.
My understanding is that it is primarily limited to the “gluten/ gluten free” issue re the wafer.
I don’t think the letter was an attempt to support the Catholic basis for believe in transubstantiation itself….those “doctrinal defenses” are far more comprehensive than a letter about the narrower gluten issue.
A family member of mine was diagnosed as “gluten intolerant “. When they went to France they ate bread to their heart’s content and had no reaction to it at all.
Draw your own conclusions. And Take communion in France.
From a different variety of wheat.