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Celiac Catholics like myself can’t take the whole wheat hosts that are so prevalent in today’s Catholic churches, so we’re forced to receive our Lord in the form of wine. Problem is, with so many faithful receiving Holy Communion during Holy Week services, the consecrated wine runs out before Communicants do. During packed Holy Thursday and Easter Masses, as many as a third of the congregation may miss out on lifting the chalice....When I informed my pastor of my dilemma, he tried to convince me I still received a “spiritual Communion.” Then he proceeded to explain how I could go about buying my own hosts from his supplier and go about providing them for consecration. Somehow that doesn’t seem fair....I mentioned my dilemma to one of my cancer treatment buddies in upstate Wisconsin. (Radiation kick started Celiac for me. He happens to be Lutheran.) His pastor has gluten free hosts available for all the congregation free of charge.

Is the issue with the author's Orange County-based parish, or with Catholic parishes overall? The "validity" of gluten-free communion wafers is an interesting topic in and of itself.