8-year-old's first Holy Communion invalidated by Church

Newsday ^ | August 12, 2004 | John Curran

[sidewalk]

BRIELLE, N.J. -- An 8-year-old girl who suffers from a rare digestive disorder and cannot consume wheat has had her first Holy Communion declared invalid because the wafer contained none, violating Catholic doctrine. Now, Haley Waldman's mother is pushing the Diocese of Trenton and the Vatican to make an exception, saying the girl's condition _ celiac sprue disease _ should not exclude her from participating in the sacrament, in which Roman Catholics eat consecrated wheat-based wafers to commemorate the last supper of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion.

[Robert Drobot]

Stupid church dogma rules that have nothing to do with our Savior.

You are what you write.

[farmfriend]

Stupid you say? What did Christ Himself use?

Matzah. Not only was Jesus Jewish but it was a Passover meal.

[farmfriend]

Stupid you say? What did Christ Himself use?

Matzah. Not only was Jesus Jewish but it was a Passover meal.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

>>> What did Christ Himself use?

Factory produced wafers?

While at a Passover Seder, all the leavened bread having been removed from the house as commanded by God through Moses, Our Lord Jesus Christ took piece of unleavened wheaten bread probably rather like a modern matzoh in his holy and sacred hands, and looking up to heaven to His Almighty Father said to His disciples, "Take, eat, this is My Body which is being broken for you. Do this in rememberance of Me."

What do you think he used?

[sinkspur]

Can't she recieve the Precious Blood instead?

Of course. And if momma has to have a "host," just intinct a non-consecrated, non-gluten host.

[Pyro7480]

Rituals do NOT save anyone. It is you HEART that He evaluates. Rituals are nice but they do NOT save anyone. This thread is an example of a ritual, communion, taken to an extreme and is not the teachings of Christ of the Bible.

You're still ignoring part of my argument. If Christ said, "Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you," then to say that He merely evaluates your heart means you're not looking at the entire picture. It seems very clear that Christ was a stickler on this point.

[Repairman Jack]

I'll get jumped for saying this, but I don't think He would care if they substituted a bowl of Crunch Berries if the intent was the same.

Isn't this a case of mistaking the map for the territory?

[Pyro7480]

Well, matzah in the general sense. The "wafers" Catholics use are matzah in the general sense too.

[js1138]

I'm not trying to mock religion, just people who see things in the Bible that aren't there. As if bread can't be made from other grains, or hasn't been for thousands of years. Or people who think it is the wheat rather than the sacrement that is holy.

[hobbes1]

Actually, they're taken very seriously in the Catholic Church, hobbes

No, they are not.

My point, simply is this.

This is a pretty poor place to be putting their theological foot down, when they are still treading VERY GINGERLY on Politicians that Prostitute their Catholic ethnicity for Votes.

[B Knotts]

While I do admit a certain fondness for receiving under both Kinds, I think one of the downsides of it is that I think people get the impression that if they don't recieve both, they are somehow "missing out" on part of the Eucharist.

A fairly regular refresher homily on the full Real Presence in both sacred species would be beneficial, IMO.

[NeoCaveman]

So then Since VII.......

Come on now. Just because they replaced a Rolls Royce with a Yugo doens't mean a Yugo is not a car.

[jojodamofo]

>>>> What do you think he used?

I think it's irrelevant. The girl will be saved if -- and only if -- she accepts Him into her heart as her Lord and Savior. If she is to go to hell, it will be because of what is in her heart, not because of what kind of wafer she ate at church. She would be most welcome at ours, and we would not insist that she put her life at risk or consume alcoholic beverages.

[broadsword]

Rituals do NOT save anyone.

Then why did Jesus go through the ritual of the last supper?

Then why did Jesus go through the ritual of the crucifixion?

Then why did Jesus go through the ritual of the resurrection?

Then why did Jesus go through the ritual of making the mud paste to put on the blind man's eyes?

Then why did Jesus go through the ritual of the baptism?

Then why did Jesus command us to go through all these rituals and say that we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven or have life in us if we do not?

He was and is God almighty, and could have just done all these things without rituals, BUT HE DIDN'T.

Then why did Jesus not just do it all YOUR way?

Why? Because He was trying to save us from lazy, wretched, human foolishness, and, in SOME CASES, it worked.

[Repairman Jack]

It's certainly not Atkins friendly.

[Looking4Truth]

Thanks for your reply. Please don't think that I'm trying to bash Catholics. I just prefer my personal relationship with our Savior. Have a good one.

[hobbes1]

LMAO!

[Dominick]

The certificate is signed at the Parish level. It is registered at the parish level, it isn't approved at the diocese. There would be too much paperwork!

I have all my certificates, and kept them, but I can write not to my old diocese but to my home parish. No approval from the Bishop needed. Like I said, shaggy dog story.

Many times, the First Communion isn't a problem for older Catechumens either. A simple letter from a Pastor suffices, especially from overseas.

[OPS4]

The Church should worry about the judgement of Jesus for homosexual acts and pedohile priests, rather than the contents of an 8 year olds communion wafer.

This is beyond belief! Jesus only wants us to share in His Saving Grace in this sharing of the signs of His Body and Blood through bread and wine, not to worship a ritual of eating only wheat wheat wafers. What next do we hav to figure out if the wine was Mogen David or Chianti?

Ops4 God BLess America!

[farmfriend]

As if bread can't be made from other grains, or hasn't been for thousands of years. Or people who think it is the wheat rather than the sacrement that is holy.

The only stipulation I know of for a Passover meal (and that is what communion symbolizes which in turn symbolizes the death of the messiah or sacrificial lamb) is that the bread must be unleavened. If you look up the word Matzah it means unleavened. Potato flour is often used in Jewish recipes.