Receiving the Cup etc

[luciasclay]

This weekend at mass in the parish I am attending in central FL there was an announcement of a new procedure in the administration of the elements. Two things were highlighted :

1. In general there will be cup bearers stationed at two or three spots each week for those who wish to take the cup as well as the wafer.
2. There is now some sort of provision for folks to now take just the cup instead of the wafer in order to address “Gluten Intolerance”.

I’m familiar with the long standing questions and disputes regarding wafer only, or wine and wafer, and the reasons behind it all.

In this parish I observed the cup being distributed on occasion but not always and never quite knew the reason behind which weeks it was or was not available to the rank and file. I figured there was some logic but I didn’t know what.

But now its different. Why is that ? Was there some higher up decision about this ? I missed the part of the announcement that said why they were doing this.

And I’ll refrain from asking how it is the Church made it for 2000 years without having to deal with Gluten Intolerance but suddenly its a crisis.

 

[bpbasilphx]

Three reasons why the Church has to deal with the issue of gluten intolerance now as opposed to 2000 years ago:

1. This medical condition–celiac disease–was only recently identified.
2. There are simply more people now than 2000 years ago, and therefore more who are afflicted with this condition.
3. There are more people coming to Communion now than was usual 50 years ago.