[Magdalen] Jesus can only reveal hinself in wheat.... ???

[Lynn Ronkainen]

I shake my head in bewilderment.... of all of the things that Jesus *is*, 
the earthly powers that be have decided that HE can not define Himself 
through anything other than wheat. WWQE1S? (what would Queen Elizabeth 1 
say?)  A clergy friend often said that Japan would have become Christian a 
millennia ago if the host could have been made of rice.
The various quotes holding up this polity are telling.  Again the 'mother 
church' plays their hand of power and might. And.... where are the 
videotapes on that last supper 2017 years ago anyway??? Perhaps the real 
question is - does the RC church actually have the correct recipe, much less 
the correct ingredients? Rant mode off.
Lynn

Washington Post: Religion Headlines that Matter

Acts of Faith
The Catholic Church says no to gluten-free communion. Here's why.

The Vatican has issued guidelines over the type of bread and wafers to use 
during communion in Catholic churches at the request of the pope, since 
these items are widely for sale, including online. (Domenico Stinellis/AP)
A new Vatican letter to Catholic bishops worldwide has stirred up questions 
again over what kinds of bread and wafers should be used during communion in 
Catholic churches around the world. The letter sparked concerns for those 
who avoid eating gluten, including people who have celiac disease.
The letter drew attention from media outlets around the globe, but it 
actually reaffirmed earlier guidelines saying that bread and wafers must 
have at least some gluten in them. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops 
already has guidelines allowing churches to use low-gluten wafers and 
nothing will change in American Catholic churches, said Andrew Menke, 
executive director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship.
"Absolutely nothing has changed," Menke said in a statement. "The 'new 
guidance' from the Vatican is simply a reminder to bishops that they need to 
be attentive to the bread and wine that is used for Mass, making sure that 
it's consistent with the Church's requirements."
The guidelines were issued in June but began to cause a stir after they were 
published Saturday by Vatican Radio. They were issued at the request of Pope 
Francis, according to Cardinal Robert Sarah, since bread and wine are widely 
available for sale, "even over the Internet."
The Catholic Church holds communion, also called the Eucharist, at every 
mass as a recognition of Jesus' Last Supper. Catholics receive bread and 
wine, believing that they are receiving the literal body and blood of 
Christ.
People with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder where gluten can lead to 
damage in the small intestine, avoid foods with the protein found in grains 
like wheat, rye and barley. But researchers say gluten-free diets have been 
on the rise in the United States even among those who don't have a gluten 
sensitivity, and many Protestant churches across the country have begun to 
offer gluten-free communion in recent years.
Because the Catholic Church is global, it has long wrestled with how to 
remain unified while accommodating churches in different regions in the 
world to adapt its practices to cultural norms. Some Catholics have 
discussed whether the church should consider whether the bread could be made 
of something else, like rice, or whether the wine could be made from the sap 
of palm trees.
The Catholic Church teaches that the practice of the Eucharist should be in 
continuity with Jesus, who ate wheat bread and drank grape wine, describing 
them as his body and blood.
"Christ did not institute the Eucharist as rice and sake, or sweet potatoes 
and stout," said Chad Pecknold, a theology professor at Catholic University.
Some theologians have argued the bread and wine are simply symbolic, but the 
Catholic Church does not consider the elements to be symbols. It teaches 
that Jesus himself instituted the bread and the wine during the Passover 
meal, and churches should follow his lead.
"It may seem a small thing to people," Pecknold said. "But the Catholic 
Church has spent 2,000 years working out how to be faithful to Christ even 
in the smallest things. To be vitally and vigorously faithful . is something 
which is simply integral to what it means to be Catholic."
Bread and wafers "must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so 
that there is no danger of decomposition," the letter from the Vatican 
states. "Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the 
celebration of the Eucharist." However, low-gluten wafers and bread may be 
used, it says.
The wine, the letter says, must be "natural, from the fruit of the grape, 
pure and incorrupt, not mixed with other substances." Both bread and wine 
made from genetically-modified organisms are acceptable.
Rachel Rieger, who was diagnosed with celiac disease at 12 years old, said 
she was worried whether the guidelines would change something for her. She 
said even one wafer would make her feel sick for the next 24 to 48 hours, 
and her parish in Ohio began to provide her with low-gluten wafers.
Rieger, a 25-year-who works in digital marketing, said the guidelines seem 
so specific for a global church that should be universal.
"It's almost splitting hairs," she said, wondering why the church won't 
allow nonwheat wafers. "There are so many options, and it would reach that 
same end point."