ok, I'm dumb. Don't all Catholics do intinction?

My (Lutheran) church I grew up in has varying breads and individual cups of wine kinda like shot glasses. The church I go to downtown does intinction. They also have the Stations of the Cross on the wall.

Sounds like a buffet! ;)

I'm not familiar with the term "intinction" so I looked it up and learned that it refers to the practice of dipping the wafer in the wine and then offering it to the recipient. I received communion once in this manner, back when I was Catholic, but it's very unusual. Usually the bread and wine are presented separately. When you receive a communion wafer, the priest or eucharistic minister can put it into your hands or onto your tongue. You indicate which you prefer by either holding out your hands or opening your mouth. When you receive wine, everyone drinks from the same chalice. The priest or eucharistic minister hands you the chalice, you take a sip and hand it back, and the priest or eucharistic minister wipes the rim of the chalice before presenting it to the next person.

Just to clarify. Intinction means dipping the Body in the Blood and placing it in the mouth. I haven't seen that in years. At my church, the priest distributes the Eucharist Host only and will place the Eucharist directly in the mouth or in the hand and the recipient puts it in his or her mouth.

The church at college used individual containers that looked like shot glasses to distribute the Blood. It was to prevent germs from spreading since college students are always getting sick.

Every church I've ever been to [LCMS-Lutheran] has had both the common and the individual cup offered. I've only taken the individual--I'm too chicken to use the common. Not because I'm afraid of getting sick, I'm afraid of doing something dumb (I'm a bit of a klutz) and then whoops! there goes the blood of Jesus all down the alter.

I think that they should offer a little jar of preserves to go with the wafer, and espresso in that little coffee cup. The Catholic Church could put a dent into Dunkin Doughnuts' business. Just a thought.

The article clearly states that "The diocese has told Haley's mother that the girl can receive a low-gluten wafer, or just drink wine at Communion, but that anything without gluten does not qualify. Pelly-Waldman rejected the offer."

The Catholic Church isn't going to change its doctrine because one whiny mom from New Jersey doesn't agree with it. It's not a democracy, for goodness sake! She should just shut up and let little Haley take the wine without the wafer. That's what I would do if it were one of my children in this situation.

It's things like this that have made Buddhism so attractive to me. I seem to recall Jesus saying something to the Pharisees about the letter of the law vs the spirit of the law.

The following information comes from the story.
"After the church's pastor refused to allow a substitute, a priest at a nearby parish volunteered to offer one, and in May, Haley wore a white Communion dress, and received the sacrament alongside her mother, who had not taken Communion since she herself was diagnosed with the disease"

It's not that the there is not an alternative wafter available, the original church pastor was being stubborn and selfish. It's not a reflection of the Catholic Church it's a reflection of the actions of one pastor. The mom knew about that option and it was her right to go to a more sympathetic pastor. She wasn't asking to change the dress code, the mass, nor did she want to add fries on the side when her daughter was to receive the sacrement. She's just wanted to protected her daughter from any exposure to wheat as much as possible. I'm glad the girl was able to have her Communion.

Well if that's the case... then the girl's communion would have been valid if she had the wine. My impression from the article was that her communion was COMPLETELY invalid because she didn't have "proper" bread. But if she took the wine... she got her communion. She eat all the rice bread she wanted for all I care.

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AXOjen, I am going thru RCIA via the Newman Center next to Sac State. Should be a good experience. Hoping. :D
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