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Another celiac/communion article.  I received permission from the author to
reprint it here.  It was published by Our Sunday Visitor, which I believe is
the largest Catholic newspaper . . .

Come into My Heart Jesus
Maureen Wittmann

"Come into my heart Lord Jesus and stay with me forever."

As I sit at my computer, my seven-year-old daughter is teaching this prayer
to her 32-month-old brother.  It is a prayer of spiritual communion; a prayer
to be said when one cannot partake in holy Communion.  Although it is very
sweet to see my little ones praying together, my heart is aching.  It aches
because I know that there will be times in my son's life when he will not be
able to take Jesus in the Eucharist.

My son has celiac disease, a lifelong disease with no cure.  Fortunately,
there is a treatment: a change in diet.  Persons with celiac have an
intolerance to gluten found in wheat, rye, barley, and oats.  As a result
they must adhere to a strict gluten-free diet.  Rice and corn are safe
substitutes.

Recently, a Boston family made national news as they left the Catholic Church
when they were told that their 5-year-old daughter, who suffers from celiac,
would not be able to use a rice wafer when she received first Communion.  The
family instead chose to join the Methodist church, leaving the Real Presence
behind.

I understand this family's frustration, but leaving the Catholic Church is
not an option for us.

This is not a disease to be taken lightly.  Gluten damages the intestinal
lining so that it cannot properly absorb nutrients.  Even the smallest trace
of gluten can lead to future illnesses, such as lymphoma.

At twenty months, my son was malnourished even though he ate a well-balanced
diet and took a daily vitamin.  He suffered serious weight loss,
developmental delays, and cried constantly because of abdominal pain.
After he began the gluten-free diet, my husband and I saw wonderful changes
in our son.  We were thrilled.  Then one day we realized that he would never
be able to digest a communion wafer.

We asked our parish priest what we should do when the time came for our child
to receive his First Holy Communion.  In his forty years as a priest he had
never encountered this situation and was unsure of how to proceed.  So I
sought the advice of Catholic adults with Celiac.  I had already begun
networking through a local support group and the Internet, so I added Holy
Communion to my list of questions.

I soon learned that a host made of rice flour was not a legitimate substitute
for a wheat host.  I am not a theologian, and cannot begin lay out the
theological argument for this, but 2,000 years of tradition appears to insist
that the host must contain gluten in order to be a valid consecration.
The pastor of my in-law's parish uses a low-gluten host, which is valid.
This still causes some damage to the celiac priest, but he chooses to take
the risk.

One woman told me that her husband receives Communion in the hand and brings
it back to the pew, where he breaks off a very small piece to share with her,
since even the smallest crumb is still in essence Our Lord.  Most people that
I talked to take communion under the species of wine and forgo the bread
altogether.

Young children need only touch the wine to their lips. Since the particle of
host that is dropped into the wine by the priest contaminates the entire
chalice with gluten, a separate chalice is provided for the celiac
individual.

Life is unfair, especially to little children who suffer from incurable
diseases.  My son will never share a pizza with his buddies, walk into a
McDonalds to order his heart's desire, eat birthday cake with his
schoolmates, or take Communion under the species of bread.

As he will have to do with many other situations in his life, he will make
special arrangements in advance in order to take Jesus into his body.  When
such accommodations cannot be made, he will ask his Lord for a spiritual
communion.

Even when he cannot take Jesus into his body, he can take Him into his heart.
And he can offer up his sacrifice in love.

Published Our Sunday Visitor Feb. 18, 2001
www.osv.com
200 Noll Plaza
Huntington, IN  46750
(800) 348-2440